sick in Laos

There is a Chinese-built hospital outside of town, but, at least 3 months ago, it was still relatively unstocked and empty.

Best bet if you feel it is serious is to go to Thailand, as others have suggested.

"Traveller's diarrhoea" can have multiple causes. Commonest is enterotoxigenic E.coli (which most routine labs cannot report because differentiating it form the normal E.coli all of us has is complicated and I'd be surprised if they can do it in Laos). Salmonella and in some places Campylobacter are also common.
As mentioned bu others above, parasitic infections also possible, though Giardia tend to be more chronic.
The most widely used antibiotic for traveller's diarrhoea is ciprofloxacin (or others in the family like ofloxacin, norfloxacin or levofloxacin) and this is what I carry with me when I travel in case I need it. Can you get it in Laos? I could not get it in a small place like Muang Ngoi (I had left my stuff in LP, and thought I might need it but didn't eventually; they had amoxycillin, erythromycin, co-trimoxazole, flagyl) but chances must be better in Muang Ngoi.
In many parts of SE Asia, there is a lot of resistance to "old antibiotics" and also ciprofloxacin. It is a known problem in Thailand but in Laos, I am not sure they have data as they treat empirically without doing the tests which would add to the cost.
Other drugs which are useful, especially where there is resistance to ciprofloxacin) include azithromycin and rifaximin. I am not sure you would be able to get these in Laos though.
As #11 mentioned, Ercefuryl is also effective. French-trained doctors swear by it (and Anglo-saxon trained ones have never heard of it) and friends whi have taken were happy with the results (I know it's not scientific to say this). If this is the only one of the above drugs you can have, you should consider it.

As #9 saya. rehydration is most important and traveller's diarrhoea is usually self-limiting, if bacterial, but it can spoil your holidays.
Yes, if your bf is in bad shape, he should definitely go to a hospital or at the very least see a doctor.

The owner of the Chittana guest house in LP is a paediatrician, who speaks English well (and French also). She lives not far away [further towards the mekong near the charter boat jetty], opposite a new more upmarket guest house she's opened - I stayed there on my last night, but can't remember the name: something like "Lam Punh"

Two other factors to take into consideration about healthcare in Laos, but not related to eash other:
1. Most doctors in Laos have trained in former East block countries and Cuba
2. Substandard drugs which contain only part of the dose or are poorly absorbed (and in some cases fake drugs) are a real problem in SE Asia (and many other developing countries).

By the way, the standard of medical care in Thailand IS good.

Well, I think he is going to die.

I have looked at his test results and its a clear case of "wimpititass" and a dose of "overprovectivegirlfriend"

Dead by the end of the weekend.

So, who wants to make a move on his girlfriend?

I don't think the hospital around the corner from the former Talat Dala/Market [a fair amount of the market is almost ready to open] nor the further away Chinese donated hospital to the south of town will be of much help. While the buildings of the relatively new Chinese Hospital looks nice, they lack a lot of medical equipment.

There is a french doctor [his name escapes me right now] that treats quite a number of the expat community in LP so you might want to check at the upscale hotels [like Villa Santi, Three Nagas, Apsara, Sala Prabang, etc] to get his name and possibly cell phone. I only know of him since he treated an artist in residence with the Quiet In the Land, who'd broken his leg and had to be air-evacuated to Bumrungrad in Bangkok after several days, but he's lived in LP for a number of years.

There is also a French trained Vietnamese-Lao doctor by the name of Dr. Pailin who's office is on the mainstreet near Cafe Des Artes. She speaks english well. Her office is open in the evenings after 5:30pm and I think she's also closed on weekends though she might be reached in an emergency.

Actually, he is pregnant.

I dont know why I didn't spot it before.

Twins.

Unfortunately there is 85% chance their going to be ginger.

probably best to seek medical professional or go to bkk. you should not self-diagnose or sample antibiotics until find one that is effective, which is dangerous and irresponsible.

Hi guys,

thanks to you all for the answers!

We flew back to BKK this week-end, went to Bumrungrad and got helped immediately. We still have to get the results of the blood tests but the doctor there said that it was very likely to be a salmonella (I didn't give a lot of details about the whole circumstances, but it's more likely to be that than giardia or other parasites). Thus the doctor of Vang Vieng's hospital had it right, but apparently the antibiotics he gave us weren't strong enough, hence the resisting pains and fever...

BF is feeling better now and we're going to fly back to Luang Prabang to enjoy the rest of our holidays there. Foolish? maybe, but it would be a shame to leave Laos on this bad experience, really...

what we really want is you to dish the dirt on where and what he ate ?

I burnt my legs on the engine of my motorbike and did'nt do anything about it........i thought letting a bit of air get to them would be ok.Unfortunately they did'nt.I came down with a fever and my legs became infected.

So i went to the new hospital about 10 mins by tuk tuk outside of LP and was seen to straight away.....they cleaned the infection,bandaged me up,told me to keep it covered and prescribed me some strong antibiotics.......

A first class service compared to the NHS.The hospital was spotless and the staff freindly.......what more do you want.