Every tenth sick on summer vacation

Despite holidays ill: Every tenth citizen affected

16/09/2013

One in ten employees became ill during their summer vacation and could not enjoy the sun. People from northern Germany and young tourists were particularly affected. „Especially younger tourists and people from the north caught it, while the Bavarians were spared in the country comparison usually“, said the spokesman for DAK health, Rüdiger Scharf, in Hamburg.

According to DPA information, the health insurance fund had commissioned a representative Forsa for this year's holiday report. It interviewed 1003 people over the age of 18 who had already completed their summer vacation. Scientists noticed years ago that workers often get ill only when they relax. They suspect that because of the constant overloading of the body, the health problems are noticed only in the leisure phases. The organism then goes down. 18 percent of 14 to 29 year olds were caught by an illness or injured in the summer. This is a peak compared to the other age groups.

North Germans are often sick on vacation
The remaining respondents between the ages of 30 and 60 years, however, only six to seven percent were affected. This may be due to increased risk taking by younger travelers, explained Scharf. It was also striking that there were large regional differences. While in Bavaria only five percent fell ill during their vacation, in Northern Germany 14 percent of respondents were.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, it was seven percent, in Baden-Württemberg ten percent. There were no significant differences in gender. Both were equally affected. Women with 10 percent and men 9 percent. Similarly, there are no abnormalities in the comparison between East and West Germany (10 and 9 percent, respectively). Colds were the most common cause with 31 percent. Accidents and falls ranked second with 27 percent. Five percent said they underwent surgery during the summer holidays and another five percent suffered from a gastrointestinal infection. Mental problems, such as depression, were claimed by four percent. The classic holiday illness, the sunburn, suffered seven percent. (Fr)

Image: Matthias Preisinger, Pixelio.de