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Below are listed several precautionary rules that everyone should heed when travelling in the tropics.

Walking barefoot, although a pleasant and healthy habit in temperate zones, is hazardous in the tropics. Various parasitic larvae may stick to the skin, penetrate the sole of the foot or the skin between the toes and travel via the lymphatics and the bloodstream to various parts of the body where they can wreak havoc. If you are a nature-lover, who cannot resist the impulse to walk barefoot in these warm areas, make sure you do so only on beaches where the sand has been cleansed by the ocean tides. Even the sand dunes farther back from the beach and which are not in direct contact with sea water are a danger and must be avoided. In tropical and subtropical regions the sand farther back is often contaminated with human excrement, releasing hundreds of thousands of worms and other parasites that can be easily transferred to the foot – and their new host – while walking on the dunes.

In hot, humid, tropical or subtropical regions, it is advisable to take with you, and sleep under, a mosquito net at all times. A net is an excellent protection and prevention from insect bites that could result in malaria, elephantiasis, sleeping sickness, and many other tropical diseases.

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