First Steps While You Wait
If you are curled up in your homestay bathroom near the Ancient Town, a few simple things help right away. Stop eating solid food. Take small, frequent sips of water or oral rehydration salts (ORS) rather than gulping, which a churning stomach tends to reject. Lie on your side and rest.
Pharmacies (nha thuoc) along Tran Hung Dao and Cua Dai Road stock ORS sachets, sold under the name "Oresol," for a few thousand dong. Many homestay and resort hosts keep some at reception, so it is worth asking before you head out to a shop. If you cannot hold down even small sips for a few hours, your body is losing fluid faster than you can replace it, and that is exactly when IV rehydration makes the difference. Message us and a doctor will come to you.
How a Home Visit Works in Hoi An
Our doctors are based in Da Nang and drive down to Hoi An, roughly 30 km south, so plan for an arrival of about 45 to 60 minutes depending on traffic and where you are staying. A visit is straightforward:
- Assessment: The doctor checks your vitals, temperature and hydration and asks what and where you ate, which helps rule out anything more serious than food poisoning.
- IV rehydration: If you are dehydrated, and most patients who call are, the doctor sets up an IV drip of saline and electrolytes. It runs for 30 to 60 minutes and most people feel markedly steadier by the end.
- Medication: Anti-nausea medicine (such as ondansetron), anti-diarrheal treatment, and antibiotics only when the doctor suspects a bacterial cause.
- Aftercare: Clear guidance on what to eat and drink over the next couple of days, warning signs to watch for, and how to reach us again if things do not settle.
The whole visit usually takes about an hour, and you never have to leave your bed. If you are in a pedestrian-only lane of the Ancient Town, the doctor may park at the edge and walk in, so a clear address and a nearby landmark speed things up.
Home Visit or the Drive to Da Nang?
This decision matters more in Hoi An than in a big city, because the nearest large hospitals are in Da Nang, 45 to 60 minutes away. For ordinary food poisoning, a doctor coming to your room is both faster and far more comfortable than that journey. A home visit is the right choice if you have:
- Vomiting and diarrhea that began in the last 24 to 48 hours
- Stomach cramps, nausea or no appetite
- Mild dehydration: dry mouth, dark urine, dizziness when you stand
- A fever below 39.5 degrees C (103 degrees F)
Do not wait at home. Call 115 or go straight to an emergency department if:
- There is blood in your vomit or stool
- Your fever climbs above 39.5 degrees C (103 degrees F) and will not come down
- You have not urinated in 8 or more hours
- Symptoms have dragged on more than 3 days without improving
- You feel confused, faint or extremely weak
Why Travelers Get Sick in Hoi An
Hoi An is one of Vietnam's great food towns, and that is exactly why the occasional upset stomach is so common among visitors. The usual culprits are:
- The Hoi An Night Market and riverside stalls: Skewers, dumplings and sweets that sit out in the evening heat along Nguyen Hoang Street can grow bacteria quickly once they cool.
- Cao lau and other local specialties: The town's signature noodle dish, along with white rose dumplings and fresh herbs, is delicious but sometimes served with raw greens rinsed in tap water.
- Banh mi from famous stalls: The pate, cold cuts and house sauces in a Hoi An banh mi are wonderful, but pate and mayonnaise left unrefrigerated in the heat are a classic source of trouble.
- Seafood at Cua Dai and An Bang: The beachfront restaurants are a highlight, yet clams, oysters and undercooked shellfish carry a heavy bacterial load in a warm climate.
- Ice and cut fruit: Larger venues use safe factory ice, but some small carts still use homemade ice or rinse pre-cut fruit in untreated water.
None of this means you should skip Hoi An's food scene, which is one of the best reasons to visit. Favor busy stalls with fast turnover, eat things served piping hot, be cautious with raw shellfish, and give anything that has been sitting out a pass.
What Recovery Looks Like
Most food poisoning runs its course in 1 to 3 days. After a visit, a rough timeline looks like this:
- Hours 0 to 6: IV fluids restore your hydration and, with medication, the nausea and vomiting usually ease within a few hours.
- Day 1: Keep to clear fluids, broth and rice porridge, known locally as "chao." Your gut needs a gentle day.
- Day 2: Add plain foods gradually: rice, toast, bananas. Steer clear of dairy, alcohol, coffee and anything spicy, which rules out the cocktails and rich dishes for now.
- Day 3 and beyond: Most people feel close to normal and can ease back toward a bike ride to An Bang or a stroll through the lantern-lit Old Town. If symptoms return or worsen, call us for a follow-up.
Where We Come in Hoi An
We visit accommodation across the whole Hoi An area, not just the center. That includes homestays and boutique hotels in the Ancient Town, the quieter guesthouses of Cam Chau and Cam Nam island, the eco-stays around the Cam Thanh coconut village, private villas out toward the rice paddies, and the beach resorts strung along An Bang and Cua Dai. Wherever you are staying between the Old Town and the sea, a doctor can reach you.
Insurance and Medical Reports
After treatment you receive a full medical report in English setting out your diagnosis and the care provided, together with an itemized receipt. The documents follow international standards and are accepted by major travel insurers including Allianz, AXA, Bupa and Cigna.
Hold on to both the report and the receipt. You can file your claim once you are home, or start it from your homestay if your insurer has an app, and most policies cover a home doctor visit for a sudden illness abroad. If you need paperwork in a particular format for your provider, tell the doctor during the visit.