On average holiday makers lose ten and a half hours during a week’s holiday time due to sunburn, insect bites and dehydration

New research (1) out today, from Lloydspharmacy’s Online Travel Clinic, reveals that during the last 12 months British holiday makers missed out on enjoying a staggering 916 million hours (2) of precious holiday time. That’s more than 38 million days. This is all down to preventable ailments such as sunburn, insect bites, jet lag, stomach bugs and dehydration.

Some Brits are losing big chunks of their holiday time, with 879,000 UK adults saying that they were affected for five days of their last holiday because of insect bites.  Sunburn also affected five days of 505,000 Brits’ last holiday with stomach bugs ruining the same amount of time for 206,000 Brits during their last trip abroad.

Prickly heat is also a big culprit for many holiday makers with 337,000 saying that five days of their last holiday time had been marred by the condition.

The survey also revealed that half of Brits suffered from one or more of the following conditions during their last holiday:

Condition     UK adults that said they were effected by the condition during their last holiday (2) 
Insect or animal bites       3,609,100    
Sunburn 3,066,800    
Jet lag 1,982,200    
Stomach bug         1,196,800    
Prickly heat         1,178,100    
Dehydration         1,065,900    
Motion sickness 691,900
Allergic reactions     598,400
Tropical Illness     93,500                

“We were shocked to see how much precious holiday time was being lost to things that were either preventable or could be treated much quicker if holiday makers were a little more prepared.” said Clare Kerr, Lloydspharmacy’s head of travel health.

“Simple things like having antihistamines and insect repellent with you can save a lot of wasted time trying to track down medication in other countries. Just spending a little time before going on holiday to ensure you’re covered can save a lot of misery, and gives you peace of mind so you can enjoy that much-deserved break.”

Clare adds: “It is also vitally important to get health advice before going to an area where there is a risk of malaria or other diseases such as diphtheria, typhoid and hepatitis.”

Lloydspharmacy advises that holiday makers visit the fitfortravel website (www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk) to see whether malaria pills are recommended for where they are travelling.

The Lloydspharmacy Online Travel Clinic provides a specialist service to help holiday makers avoid the pitfalls of foreign travel with expert advice and services for a variety of travel-related conditions including malaria, diarrhoea and jet lag. Please visit the travel clinic at www.lloydspharmacy.com/doctor for more information.