Adaptation of travel medicine practitioners to the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey of ISTM members

Acosta, Rebecca Wolfe; Visser, Jenny; Chen, Lin H.; Leggat, Peter A.; Flaherty, Gerard

doi:10.1093/jtm/taac032

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 10 publications

(8 reference statements)

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“…The travel medicine community has demonstrated flexibility and resilience in adapting to the effects of the pandemic on routine clinical activity. 2 The International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM), through its COVID-19 Task Force, successfully navigated the pandemic by utilizing an immersive virtual reality platform to host its biennial conference in 2021 and pivoting to online delivery of its annual review course and certificate examination. 3 …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting the natural history of artificial intelligence in travel medicine

Flaherty

Piyaphanee

2022

Journal of Travel Medicine

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting the natural history of artificial intelligence in travel medicine

Flaherty

Piyaphanee

2022

Journal of Travel Medicine

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Travel in the Time of COVID: A Review of International Travel Health in a Global Pandemic

Flaherty

Hamer

Chen

2022

Curr Infect Dis Rep

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Purpose of Review This review critically considers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global travel and the practice of travel medicine, highlights key innovations that have facilitated the resumption of travel, and anticipates how travel medicine providers should prepare for the future of international travel. Recent Findings Since asymptomatic transmission of the virus was first recognized in March 2020, extensive efforts have been made to characterize the pattern and dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 transmission aboard commercial aircraft, cruise ships, rail and bus transport, and in mass gatherings and quarantine facilities. Despite the negative impact of further waves of COVID-19 driven by the more transmissible Omicron variant, rapid increases of international tourist arrivals are occurring and modeling anticipates further growth. Mitigation of spread requires an integrated approach that combines masking, physical distancing, improving ventilation, testing, and quarantine. Vaccines and therapeutics have played a significant role in reopening society and accelerating the resumption of travel and further therapeutic innovation is likely. Summary COVID-19 is likely to persist as an endemic infection, and surveillance will assume an even more important role. The pandemic has provided an impetus to advance technology for telemedicine, to adopt mobile devices and GPS in contact tracing, and to apply digital applications in research. The future of travel medicine should continue to harness these novel platforms in the clinical, research, and educational arenas.

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Impact of COVID-19 on a Medium-Sized Travel Medicine Clinic in Eastern Pennsylvania, USA

Palwai,

Gareca,

Rao

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic (COVID) disrupted international travel. We sought to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient volume, traveler demographics, and income of our travel clinic in Pennsylvania, USA. Methods: We extracted de-identified pre-travel data on 3,510 pre-travel consultations for adults during: Pre-COVID-19 (January 2018-December 2019), Early COVID-19 (April 2020-March 2022) and Late COVID-19 (April 2022-March 2023). We compared traveler demographics, destinations, purpose of travel, medical conditions, and number of vaccinations administered over time, and we obtained our clinic’s revenue from our financial database (TruSource) from the Pre-COVID-19 period to the Early and Late COVID-19 periods. Results: We observed 84% and 85% relative decreases in traveler volume and revenue respectively from the Pre-COVID-19 to the Early COVID-19 period. The proportional decrease in volume was highest for travelers over 65 years of age, decreasing from 16–11%. Of those that sought care during Early COVID-19, proportionally fewer travelers had multiple co-morbid conditions and were taking chronic medications. Trip length increased and there was a significant proportional increase in travel to Africa. Travel to visit friends or family and for service work also proportionally increased during Early-COVID-19 versus Pre-COVID-19. Clinic volume and revenue began to increase in Late COVID-19 but did not return to Pre-COVID levels. Conclusions: The COVID pandemic resulted in a large reduction in patient volume and revenue in our academic-based Pennsylvania travel clinic. We saw substantial changes in our traveler demographics, destinations, as well as reasons and durations of travel.

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Adaptation of travel medicine practitioners to the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey of ISTM members

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

Predicting the natural history of artificial intelligence in travel medicine

Predicting the natural history of artificial intelligence in travel medicine

Travel in the Time of COVID: A Review of International Travel Health in a Global Pandemic

Impact of COVID-19 on a Medium-Sized Travel Medicine Clinic in Eastern Pennsylvania, USA

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