WILL A LITTLE VACATION KILL YOU?

You work hard. You've eared time off. And there's enough to deal with when traveling without freaking out about spending your vacation in the bathroom or in the ER. In the New book Worried? : science Investigate Some of Life's Common Concerns, scientists Lise Johnson, Ph.D., and Eric Chudler, Ph.D., investigate what's worth stressing over:

Getting sick from mosquitoes
Mosquitoes have been called the most dangerous animals on earth due to the number of major diseases they carry malaria, Zika, and more. Use insect repellent, and get vaccinated if applicable, when headed to mosquito-filled destinations.

Free flowing alcohol
Health risks aren't completely reducible, since you can't control the effects of other people's drinking habits.

Germs in public transportation
Each of us sheds millions of bacteria into the air every hour: It's impossible to avoid other people's germs. Touch stuff, wash your hands, repeat.

Spiders everywhere
As much as 6 percent of the population suffers from arachnophobia, but the vast majority of spiders are nonaggressive and harmless except these: the black widow, brown recluse, and Sydney funnel-web. Their venom is dangerous to humans.

X-rays from airport body scanners
You'd need to go through a backscatter scanner more than 1,000 times a year to exceed the FDA's annual radiation-dose limit.

"Cruise flu"
A virus taking hold of a cruise ship makes news, but it only happens to an estimated 0.18 percent of passengers.

Shark attacks
Seems like these happen all the time, but 2018 had only 66 unprovoked shark attacks.

Pirate takeovers
Pirates are still out there especially in the Singapore Strait, Sulu and Celebes seas, Gulf of Aden, and Gulf of Guinea though few people will encounter them on open water.