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The Challenges of Travel Medicine in the 21st Century

Travel medicine has emerged as a new field of medicine, moving to an evidence based body of knowledge concerning risk assessment and measures to protect the health of travellers...

With globalisation new emerging economies are growing in many parts of the world, new patterns of travel and mobility appear. The sharpest increases in travel are observed in Asian and in Latin American regions where intra-regional and in-country travel is rising. The majority of these new travellers are urban dwellers often unaware of the existing risks gradients within their own country when they move to rural destinations. Thus travel medicine has to expand from the current international/across boarders…

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Articles of Interest

‘Travel is medicine’: how the Sherborne Travel Writing Festival can inspire our trips

These past few years have brought dramatic changes to our lives: Brexit, Covid lockdowns, climate change, soaring energy costs and the largest, most brutal war in Europe since 1945. While our horizons have drawn in, travel writers have continued to reach out, rediscovering and reinterpreting the world for a new age.

Perspectives: Risk Management Issues in Travel Medicine

Travel medicine providers, just as practitioners in other medical specialties, are at risk for legal action. Claims for medical negligence could involve failure of duty of care; failure to uphold the standard of practice; care resulting in physical, financial, or psychological loss; and loss caused directly by the failure to reach the standard of care.

The Dangerous Practice of Seeking Medical Treatments Abroad

Medical tourism is not risk-free. The CDC cites complications like counterfeit or poor-quality medication, and poor blood screening that may result in diseases like HIV and hepatitis.

Travel medicine

Travel medicine is a highly dynamic specialty that focuses on pretravel preventive care. A comprehensive risk assessment for each individual traveler is essential in order to accurately evaluate traveler-, itinerary-, and destination-specific risks, and to advise on the most appropriate risk management interventions to promote health and prevent adverse health outcomes during travel. Vaccinations might also be required and should be personalized according to the individual traveler’s immunization history, travel itinerary, and the amount of time available before departure.

Travel Medicine Physician’s Tips for Traveling Safely

Travel medicine experts can be a helpful guide in an uncertain time. With patience worn thin by years of pandemic travel restrictions, there’s concern among health care professionals that this surge in travel is unfolding with little regard for how easily infections can be transmitted and just how widely health conditions can vary, not only between countries but also regions within the same country.

Travel Medicine: Tales Behind the Science

This is not a formal textbook of travel medicine, but much can be learned from it. Although not a history text, the book is replete with fascinating accounts of medical history. One learns such things as the origin of the word “quarantine,” the complexities of preparing a certification examination, and the sheer terror of being on the front lines of an epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome. In short, the volume explains why things are the way they are in travel medicine and why this new discipline has, of necessity, become a separate specialty.

Travel Medicine: What You Need To Know To Safely Travel Abroad Again

Travel medicine is the field of medicine dedicated to keeping travelers safe and healthy. This vital health service focuses on evaluating international travel-related risks, how to stay healthy while traveling, and treating diseases and health conditions resulting from travel. It encompasses everything from travel immunizations and destination-specific safety protocols to issues that can arise from jet lag and altitude sickness.

Trend Analysis of Travel Medicine Topics...

Over the last few decades, the volume of international travel has greatly increased.1 This increasing globalization in travel increases the risk of travel-related illnesses and the need for triage and assessment of ill returned travelers. There is now increasing movement of people all around the world in all directions, and these changes might result in new geographic patterns of infectious disease transmission, including tropical infections such as dengue and Zika virus.2 In addition, data on travel numbers are used to forecast demand for immunizations and pre-travel consultations. As a consequence, health care practitioners, including travel medicine specialists, must appropriately advise travelers about these potential risks. Travel medicine is a dynamic and growing specialization that focuses on pre-travel preventative care, illness occurring during travel, and diseases presenting in the returned traveler.

Tropical travel medicine. A growing interest in tropical medicine reflects the increasing incidence of tropical disease in the Western world

There is a growing awareness among health-care professionals that, as people travel more frequently to remote places and as global commerce increases, more people will return home with infectious diseases that, so far, have only seriously plagued the developing world.

Why do I need a travel medicine consultation?

We commonly hear “I have traveled all over the world without a problem, so why spend extra time and money on travel shots and health preparation?” In reality, traveling abroad poses many health risks. Going on a trip without adequate preparation is, essentially, gambling…you may be fine most of the time, but….not always. There are many health-related issues that can come up during a trip ANYWHERE in the world that should be addressed BEFORE starting your travels.

Resources

International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health

Our primary aim is to facilitate the exchange of ideas, hypothesis, techniques and information among all physicians. IJTMGH is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal encompassing all diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic aspects of medicine in travels and is adhering to ICMJE and COPE recommendation.

International Society of Travel Medicine

The International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) is organized and operated exclusively for educational, scientific and charitable* purposes. The ISTM is dedicated to promoting healthy, safe, and responsible travel and movement of all people crossing borders by facilitating advancement of epidemiological surveillance and research, education and service in travel and migration medicine, to the benefit of individuals and communities.

Journal of Travel Medicine

The Journal of Travel Medicine publishes cutting-edge research, consensus papers, policy papers and expert reviews in the field of travel medicine in the interface with other disciplines.

Travel Health Journal

Making the world a healthier place to travel.

Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

Focus areas include: epidemiology and surveillance of travel-related illness, prevention and treatment of travel associated infections, malaria prevention and treatment, travellers' diarrhoea, infections associated with mass gatherings, migration-related infections, vaccines and vaccine-preventable disease, global policy/regulations for disease prevention and control, and practical clinical issues for travel and tropical medicine practitioners.

American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, founded in 1903, is the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health. We accomplish this through generating and sharing scientific evidence, informing health policies and practices, fostering career development, recognizing excellence, and advocating for investment in tropical medicine/global health research.

Travel Medical Seminars

Since 2006, Travel Medical Seminars has been providing continuing medical education (CME) courses and seminars to busy medical professionals interested in earning CME credits at the place and time most convenient for them.