Emporiatrics: The growing area of concern

prevention of infectious diseases during travel but also with the personal safety of travelers and the avoidance of environmental risks. The major content areas of travel medicine include the global epidemiology of the health risks to the traveler, vaccinology, prevention of disease and pretravel counseling. Many of these risks can be minimized by precautions taken before, during and after travel. Before departure, travellers should be advised about the risk of disease in the country or countries they plan to visit and the steps to be taken to prevent illness. There is no single vaccination schedule that fits all travellers. Each schedule must be individualized according to the traveller's previous immunizations, countries to be visited, type and duration of travel, and the amount of time available before departure. A medical consultation before departure is a good opportunity for the health care provider to review the immunization status of travellers and to offer missing routine vaccinations in addition to vaccines needed for the actual travel. Education about risk avoidance is a key component of travel medicine, and for low‑risk disease, it may be a more cost‑effective approach than vaccination. Accessing medical care can be difficult, and travelers should be given guidelines as to how to locate reliable care. Travel health insurance companies will often have preferred providers in foreign countries, and they can arrange for payment for medical services and air evacuation, if necessary. Travelers should be encouraged to take out supplemental travel health and evacuation insurance. Travelers who have a history of anaphylaxis to medications, foods, or insect bites should carry with them antihistamine preparations and an injectable epinephrine product. According to the World Health Organisation, people who plan to travel need to contact a physician specialized in travel medicine, at least 4‑6 weeks prior to departure. An important aspect of travel medicine is pretravel advice for travelers who are at the extremes of age, those with complex medical conditions, and the large group of ethnic travelers who travel to their country of birth to visit friends and relatives (VFRs). VFRs are travelers who were born in a resource‑poor region of the world, who now live in industrialized nations, and who return to their country of birth to VFRs. They present unique challenges in providing pretravel health care. It is not uncommon for illness to occur overseas and as many as 8% of travelers will seek medical care for The increase …