I am now very sick from the others who got sick from China. I am wondering, if we go back , would we have less of a chance of getting sick from the pollution? Or would the same thing likely happen? How about the traveller's diarrhea? Do you develop immunity to it? Just curious the experience from the more experienced travellers.

No, you don't develop immunity to it, but with experience you may find ways to help prevent illnesses.

If you caught something from your fellow travelers, it wasn't from the pollution. You (and they) likely had a viral infection (or less likely, a bacterial infection). Traveling in a group increases the chances that a cold (or any communicable disease) gets passed from one person to another.

Sorry ot hear that. I agree with Kathie, depends on at that future time your health condition, environ of your destination (more pollution?), what you consume and ......

Get well soon!

Thanks, I guess I'm just frustrated since I feel so badly. YOu make good points.

Sorry to hear that you are still feeling poorly. As you know, my wife was quite sick right at the end of our China trip and it took maybe a full month for her to recover. She had chest problems with a bad cough.
Now, I can't say what caused this, but I do know that pollution was really bad everywhere we went. We have travelled extensively in Asia and never had similar problems so......
There is a nasal spray available in the UK, made by Vicks, called First Defence. It is supposed to prevent you from picking up colds and airborne infections etc. Particularly useful for protection in enclosed spaces like an aircraft. It's quite expensive but we have been using it since it was launched and feel that maybe it has some merit.
We forgot it for the China trip!!
Hope you feel better soon.

Leigh,
I never heard of First Defense. We might consider something like that next time we go. I do recall your wife was really sick after your return. ONE MONTH!! Oh, my. I'm hoping mine will be quicker. Thanks for your input!

Here is a link to the product. Yes, I know it's no magical solution, but it seems to work for us. Stuck in an aircraft cabin for hours on end with so many people all breathing the same air......any little defender is worth considering.

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Vicks_First_Defence__6376429

Thanks, Leigh. I went to the site, couldn't find what's actually in it. Maybe herbal? Certainly worth looking into before next time.

I think it is the same product as "Airborne" in the US

I have heard of Airborne. Some people swear by it. It's mostly herbs and certain things like zinc, right? Someone just went to China and used that and didn't get sick.

Did you get sick from being exposed to sick people on the airplane? Or was it from something consumed in China? Basically I am asking if you think it was airborne or ingested such as water or food? If ingested I am unaware of any remedy other than time.

If you believe it was airborne, a great anti bacterial/viral (both I believe, but I don't have a box handy to check) are zicam swabs. You can purchase in swab form or a nasal spray at the drug store. They are great to use before boarding an airplane. Zicam is available in the US.

Anti-bacterials (including antibiotics) are not of any help in upper respiratory viral infections. As I understand the problem, a number of people in her group came down with upper respiratory infections after being in China for a while. WHile the pollution may have caused irritation which makes one more susceptible to colds and other viral infections, the pollution was not the cause of the infection. And since they all came down with this after some time in China, airplane recycled air was also not the cause.