key: cord-0034232-13un75zz authors: nan title: Selected Bibliography date: 2006-03-08 journal: J Travel Med DOI: 10.2310/7060.2003.9381 sha: b9909acfbe1e20ec80c3d30e7d7530ef1c8bfdb0 doc_id: 34232 cord_uid: 13un75zz nan It is well known that travelers are more likely to be killed or injured in accidents or through violence than to die from an infectious disease. Whilst the literature reveals that 15% to 54% of travelers experience health problems, injuries were responsible for over 50%, assault for 3.8% and drowning for 11.5% to 14% of traveler mortality. The paucity of reliable data is a major problem in developing countries. In addition to the increasing importance of violence and terrorism in developing countries, the number of road vehicle accidents during travel outside Europe increases by about 5% every year. Fatalities occur in 1.4 per 10,000 motor vehicles in the UK per year, but in 9 to 67 per 10,000 in Asia and in 20 to 118 in Africa. The most dangerous form of travel in the world is the minibus, followed by motorbike, bicycle, walking and automobile. In South Africa more than 900 persons die in 60,000 accidents involving minibuses. Major risk factors for accidents are the use of alcohol, lack of infrastructure, non-compliance and poor quality medical care. Absence of helmets, fatigue and unfamiliarity with traffic resulted in a significant excess of travelers compared to locals involved in accidents. More men than women have accidents. The incidence of serious injuries in adventure tourists is shown to be very low, mostly occurring in activities involving the risk of falling from a moving vehicle or in sporting pursuits using animals. The causes of accidents were most commonly related to the client and his failure to attend to and follow instructions. Travel medicine advisors should warn travelers of all these hazards and of any specific local conditions prevailing at certain destinations. Counseling should address alertness, avoidance of dark or "red light" areas and following safety recommendations. Prevention should include the use of safety belts and helmets, a check up of the car/motorbike and the avoidance of the major road traffic injury causes mentioned above. The importance of packing a first aid kit and instruction how to use it should be explained to travelers to developing countries. Most important, special focus should be on the travel health insurance. A large study in World Bank staff and consultants showed that the rates of insurance claims were 80% higher for men and 18% higher in women travelers versus their non-traveling counterparts. Because of the costs of medical treatment abroad and the high cost associated with aeromedical evacuation, all travelers should be advised to read their policies carefully to see what is covered and to check for any exclusions. An international outbreak of meningococcal disease occurred in association with the Hajj pilgrimage in the years 2000 and 2001. This outbreak generated particular interest as the outbreak strain was W135, a previously rare serogroup. Several reports from all over the world have shown that this strain not only affected pilgrims but also household contacts of returning pilgrims and the community at large, with the potential of non-Hajj related further epidemics. A switch from the bivalent meningococcal vaccine against serogroups A and C was recommended for the year 2001 Hajj and obligatory for the year 2002 Hajj. Immunisation with polysaccharide meningococcal vaccine, however, does not prevent nasopharyngeal carriage of meningococci which is the primary source of transmission. A prospective study in Singaporean pilgrims before and after the Hajj 2001 demonstrated a high acquisition rate of meningococcal carriage (from 0.5% to 17%); the predominant serogroup was W135. Subsequent transmission of this W135 clone from returning pilgrims to household contacts was found to be 13%. The estimated clinical attack rate in contacts was 28 per 100,000. Public health measures need to be in place to protect household contacts. Meanwhile N. meningitidis W135 has gone far beyond the Hajj pilgrimage and has reached epidemic dimensions in the Greater Lake Area in Africa since the beginning of 2002. Therefore, travelers to Africa should be vaccinated with the quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine which also covers W135. A recent thought provoking article by Schwartz et al. in the NEJM questions the appropriateness of our current recommendations for the prevention of travelers' malaria. Surveillance data on imported US and Israeli cases with species specification were collated and analysed. Some 45% of total Israeli cases and 35% of total US cases were classified as "late onset malaria", defined as occurring later than 2 months after leaving the malaria endemic area. Most of these late onset cases were due to P. vivax, occasionally to P. ovale and rarely to P. malariae. In the Israeli data no late onset cases were attributed to P. falciparum but 5% of the US late onset cases identified P. falciparum as the causative species. Of concern is that 81% of the Israeli and 62% of the US late onset malaria patients claimed to have complied with the recommended chemoprophylaxis. Are our national recommendations ineffective or inappropriate? Is the threat of P. vivax malaria ignored? The authors of this paper correctly point out that currently used chemoprophylactic agents, mefloquine, doxycycline and chloroquine are blood schizontocides that have little or no activity on the liver stages of the parasite particularly on the liver hypnozoite or dormant stage (occurring in P. vivax and P. ovale). The newer anti-malaria agent atovaquone/proguanil (Malarone) is a blood schizontocide but also a causal agent and effective against the liver phase of P. falciparum but its efficacy against the liver stages of P. vivax needs clarification. To date primaquine is the recognised drug for the radical cure of P. vivax and P. ovale hypnozoites but post travel treatment with this agent is complicated and fraught with poor compliance. The authors suggest that new agents are needed that focus on the liver stages of Plasmodium. Resistance to antimalarials in Southeast Asia and genetic polymorphisms in pfmdr1 Malaria in Iraq-the pitfalls of Plasmodium vivax prophylaxis Malaria vaccine not "just around the corner Genetic confirmation of atovaquone-proguanil-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria acquired by a nonimmune traveler to East Africa Delayed onset of malaria-implications for chemoprophylaxis in travelers The "Malaria's Eve" hypothesis and the debate concerning the origin of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum Malaria early warning in Kenya and seasonal climate forecasts Clinical review: severe malaria Guilty until proven otherwise Travel Medicine Aerospace Medical Association Medical Guidelines Task Force. Medical guidelines for airline travel Travel medicine Cruising with confidence Travel advice for clients with pre-existing medical conditions Travel medicine: a new field of work for the specialist in infectious and parasitic diseases SARS poses challenges for MDs treating pediatric patients Azithromycin found to be comparable to levofloxacin for the treatment of US travelers with acute diarrhea acquired in Mexico Giardia intestinalis Management of vaccinations and prophylaxis of international travellers from community pharmacy (Vintaf Study) Ciprofloxacin use and misuse in the treatment of travelers' diarrhea Ciguatera poisoning in Spanish travellers Probiotics to enhance anti-infective defences in the gastrointestinal tract Children at risk of giardiasis in Auckland: a case-control analysis Genetic susceptibility to enteroaggregative Escherichia coli diarrhea: polymorphism in the interleukin-8 promotor region Safe water for travellers Genotypic identification of erythromycin-resistant campylobacter isolates as helicobacter species and analysis of resistance mechanism Prevalence and serodiversity of the pandemic clone among the clinical strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolated in southern Thailand To wash or not to wash? That is the question Prevalence of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli among children with and without diarrhea in Switzerland Therapy of travelers' diarrhea with rifaximin on various continents Protection from natural infections with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli: longitudinal study Detection of Cyclospora cayetanensis in travellers returning from the tropics and subtropics using microscopy and real-time PCR A case of human cyclosporiasis causing traveler's diarrhea after visiting Indonesia Other Travel-associated Infectious Diseases Helminthic infections Chigger mite infestation Imported West Nile virus infection in Europe Non-healing gastric ulcer Outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis in northern Israel African tick bite fever Newly discovered coronavirus as the primary cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome Infectious diseases in immigrants from the perspective of a tropical medicine referral unit Severe hepatitis e virus infection after ingestion of uncooked liver from a wild boar Asymptomatic animal traders prove positive for SARS virus Repellent efficacy of DEET and KBR 3023 against Amblyomma hebraeum (Acari: Ixodidae) Ultrasound in tropical and parasitic diseases Neurocysticercosis and population movements: analysis of 23 imported cases in Spain Imported mucosal leishmaniasis in a traveler Zoonotic transmission of hepatitis E virus from deer to human beings Risk of relapse after meningococcal C conjugate vaccine in nephrotic syndrome Liposomal meningococcal B vaccination: role of dendritic cell targeting in the development of a protective immune response US advisory panel urges government to subsidise vaccine costs. Recommendations would increase vaccination rates and stimulate research and development Association between number of physician visits and influenza vaccination coverage among diabetic adults with access to care Controversies in rabies vaccination An assessment of the implementation of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccination program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait infants in north Queensland Safety and immunogenicity of a diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis-inactivated poliovirus vaccine/Haemophilus influenzae type B combination vaccine administered to Taiwanese infants at 2, 4, and 6 months of age Nursing staff knowledge of the hepatitis B virus including attitudes and acceptance of hepatitis B vaccination: development of an effective program Fatal human rabies caused by European bat Lyssavirus type 2a infection in Scotland Controversies in BCG immunization Rabies update for travel medicine advisors