key: cord-0783619-mgtrknj9 authors: Wilder-Smith, Annelies title: End of year editorial: Hot topics in travel medicine date: 2020-11-19 journal: J Travel Med DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taaa215 sha: 663abba962a32433223a84971fbbf3afc9e2613b doc_id: 783619 cord_uid: mgtrknj9 COVID-19 will reshape travel medicine, in particular in relation to business travellers and the use of digital technologies. Although the hot topic in travel medicine was the COVID-19 pandemic, travel-associated measles, yellow fever and rabies deserve some special attention. No doubt, the hot topic in travel medicine in 2020 was the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 turned travel medicine upside down, plummeted the travel and tourism industry, and rendered many travel medicine clinics empty, not to mention it revolutionized our own personal lives by stay-at-home orders and mobility restrictions. Travelers were the initial vectors, and travel became the immediate victim. 1 Never in history have we seen such a dramatic decline in air travel. The International Society of Travel Medicine as a whole was affected, our regional conference was cancelled, and all our meetings for leadership or educational purposes are now online. Some of us have lost loved ones, others have experienced the disease, some are still suffering from long-COVID. 4 Pre-travel advice is the core function in travel medicine. 5 Immediate and long-term recalls of traditional pre-travel consultations are known to be suboptimal, and online consultation with smartphone support could potentially enhance knowledge, practices and reduce risk behaviour. In a randomized controlled trial, travellers received a short consultation and smartphone support versus no smartphone support. 6 Interestingly, although online support addressed several important travel-related hazards, when combined with a shortened pre-travel consultation, was associated with a lower level of knowledge about health risks. The authors conclude that smartphone support should augment, rather than replace, pre-travel consultation. A prospective cohort of travellers to Thailand used a smartphone application to answer a daily questionnaire about health behaviours and events. By pairing new methods of data collection with questionnaires that identify key traveller characteristics to intervene on, travel medicine providers will be able to provide more specialised health advice, ensuring that all travellers receive comprehensive advice about the full range of health challenges they will face during Although COVID-19 took centre stage in travel medicine in 2020, there are interesting additional hot topics to report on. The years 2018 to 2019 saw a major rise of measles in travellers. 8 The resurgence of measles globally was a major setback to the measles eradication efforts. Conversely, the social distancing measures as part of the COVI-19 pandemic response have resulted in a decline in measles cases in 2020. 9 However, this impact is unlikely to last, and given the disruptions in childhood immunization programmes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, measles will accelerate soon again, unless we immediately improve global vaccine coverage rates. Risk perception of rabies in travellers remains low. 10 Risk of COVID-19 During Air Travel Travel vaccine preventable diseases-updated logarithmic scale with monthly incidence rates Business travel-associated illness: a GeoSentinel analysis Measuring mobility, disease connectivity and individual risk: a review of using mobile phone data and mHealth for travel medicine Factors Affecting Pre-Travel Health Seeking Behaviour and Adherence to Pre-Travel Health Advice: A Systematic Review Standard pre-travel consultation versus shorter consultation combined with smartphone support: a randomized controlled trial Does the DOSPERT scale predict risk-taking behaviour during travel? A study using smartphones The rise in travel-associated measles infections-GeoSentinel, 2015-2019 Zero measles after COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan Running title: measles and COVID-19 Perceptions of rabies risk: a survey of travellers and travel clinics from Canada, Germany, Sweden and the UK An overview of the immunogenicity and effectiveness of current human rabies vaccines administered by intradermal route Revised recommendations for rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis in travellers: avoid bumpy roads, select the highway! Severe yellow fever in Brazil: clinical characteristics and management Fatal Yellow Fever in Travelers to Brazil Fractional-dose yellow fever vaccination: an expert review Travel restrictions and lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic-impact on notified infectious diseases in Switzerland Compliance of the Gulf Cooperation Council airlines with COVID-19 mitigation measures Uncovering two phases of early intercontinental COVID-19 transmission dynamics BCG as an adjunct or alternative vaccine to prevent COVID-19? Social consequences of mass quarantine during epidemics: a systematic review with implications for the COVID-19 response Rising summer temperatures do not reduce the reproduction number of COVID-19 Has the effectiveness of Australia's travel bans against China on the importation of COVID-19 been overestimated? International travel during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications and risks associated with 'Travel Bubbles Association of Cell Phone Location Data and Trends in COVID-19 Infections During Loosening of Stay-At-Home Restrictions Neglected tropical diseases in non-endemic countries in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: the great forgotten Analysis of travel restrictions for COVID-19 control in Latin America through network connectedness The second wave of COVID-19 in a tourist hotspot in Vietnam Surveillance of COVID-19 in migrant reception centers: a call for action COVID-19 outbreak on the Costa Atlantica cruise ship: use of a remote health monitoring system Health equity considerations in COVID-19: geospatial network analysis of the COVID-19 outbreak in the migrant population in Singapore Maternal and neonatal outcomes in COVID-19 infected pregnancies: a prospective cohort study Call to avert acceleration of COVID-19 from India's Sabarimala pilgrimage of 25 million devotees Estimating the COVID-19 Risk during the Hajj Pilgrimage The COVID-19 pandemic offers a key moment to reflect on travel medicine practice Health diplomacy across borders: the case of yellow fever and COVID-19 Travel-related fever in the time of COVID-19 travel restrictions Centralized medical quarantine for imported COVID-19 in Shanghai Impact of COVID-19 on tourism in Nepal Expansion of COVID-19 within Brazil: the importance of highways Re-starting travel in the era of COVID-19: preparing anew Testing for COVID-19 at travel clinics in Japan A cluster of COVID-19 in pilgrims to Israel A tale of two pandemics: obesity and COVID-19 COVID-19 will further exacerbate global antimicrobial resistance Reduction in effective reproduction number of COVID-19 is higher in countries employing active case detection with prompt isolation Estimating COVID-19 outbreak risk through air travel Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in a high transmission setting increases the risk of severe COVID-19 compared with exposure to a low transmission setting? 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