A study released by the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID) on Wednesday has urged Australians, particularly those from West Australia, to take extra precautionary measures when travelling overseas, especially if it is to Bali, Indonesia.

According to ASID, a trend has been seen on the number of infectious diseases, such as dengue fever and salmonella gastroenteritis, that Western Australians have contracted after vising the island-province which is located just north of Australia.

In 2012, Western Australians caught a total of 2,605 notifiable infectious diseases from various overseas trips. Majority of these diseases, or 41 per cent, were acquired in Indonesia, and mostly from Bali.

But what's more worrying is that many of these diseases are resistant to normal treatment with antibiotics.

Dengue fever, Salmonella gastroenteritis, Campylobacter gastroenteritis, Chlamydia and gonorrhea were the most common diseases acquired from Indonesia, according to ASID.

Of the types of diseases, dengue fever was the most common, with more than 400 notifications, representing 80 per cent of all cases in WA.

The rise in the number of infectious diseases from Indonesia came as the number of visits to the country by WA residents jumped to more than fivefold from 2006 to 2012, ASID research findings showed. In 2011 alone, of the scheduled travels to Indonesia, 90 per cent of these was made to Bali.

In the seven years from 2006 to 2012, the number of cases originating in Indonesia rose from 178 to 1,078.

The less common diseases acquired from Indonesia were hepatitis A, HIV, legionnaires' disease, malaria, typhus and typhoid fever.

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:

To contact the editor, e-mail: