See doctor before heading to the World Cup: health officials

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Before heading to Brazil for this month’s World Cup or the 2016 Olympic Games, people should visit their doctors for appropriate preventive medicine, U.S. health officials say. Those visiting Brazil should see their doctors or travel medicine specialists four to six weeks before traveling, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta write in JAMA Internal Medicine. “We’re expecting that a lot of Americans will attend and we want to give them a chance to review some of the health and safety issues that come with attending World Cup-like events in a country like Brazil,” said Joanna Gaines, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC and lead author of the statement.