Vaccinations of International Travellers From Greece to Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Introduction During that past few decades, international travel has dramatically increased worldwide. The number of international tourists is expected to reach a total of 1.6 billion by the year 2020. Travel to Africa recorded a growth of 2%. 1 International travels to tropical and subtropical countries may increase the risk of exposure to infectious diseases and may facilitate their global spread. 2,3 Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most common destinations (26.7%) where illnesses are acquired by travellers. 4 A large proportion of imported infectious diseases to developed countries, including Greece, are related to Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPDs). 5,6 VPDs account for 3% of febrile episodes. According to GeoSentinel data; typhoid fever, hepatitis A, and influenza A were the most common VPDs. 6,7 Therefore, vaccine prophylaxis is an important measure of pre-travel advice. Risk assessment is based on travel variants such as destination, purpose, duration, area and place of travel and travellers' variants including age, medical and vaccination history. Recommendation of vaccinations prior to travel is based on risk assessment and includes routine vaccines (vaccines recommended by the national immunization program), required vaccines, according to the International Health Regulation (IHR), and recommended vaccines. 8 The current study aimed at assessing pre-travel preparation and provision of vaccinations to international travellers from Greece visiting http://ijtmgh.com

Pre-travel Preparedness of International Students Undertaking Electives in a Medical College in Bengaluru City, South India

“…4 These vaccines require a longer time for the entire schedule to be administered. 4 A study among international travellers to Sub-Sahara Africa by Pavli et al 28 showed lower rates of vaccination for typhoid, hepatitis A, and tetanus toxoid than seen in the present study, in which vaccination rates were reported to be 76.7%, 72.1%, and 58.1%, respectively (Table 3). This may be explained by the origin of travelers from the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe where travel clinics are well established and travelers are better informed.…”