Many of your patients may have plans to travel to areas where they may be exposed to infectious diseases and other health risks not routinely encountered in the United States. They will join the 29 million Americans, including almost 3 million children, who traveled to overseas destinations in 2013. The potential for exposures to these risks is dependent on several factors, including the traveler’s age, health and immunization status, destination, accommodations, and duration of travel. Leisure travel, including visiting friends and relatives, accounts for approximately 90% of overseas travel. Some adolescents are traveling to resource-limited areas for adventure travel, educational experiences, and volunteerism. Many times they will reside with host families as part of this experience. There are also children who will have prolonged stays as a result of parental job relocation.
Unfortunately, health precautions often are not considered as many make their travel arrangements. International trips on average are planned at least 105 days in advance; however, many patients wait until the last minute to seek medical advice, if at all. Of 10,032 ill persons who sought post-travel evaluations at participating surveillance facilities (U.S. GeoSentinel sites) between 1997 and 2011, less than half (44%) reported seeking pretravel advice (MMWR 2013;62(SS03):1-15).
Here are some tips that should be useful and easy to implement in your practice for your internationally traveling patients.
• Make sure routine immunizations are up-to-date for age. The exception to this rule is for measles. All children at least 12 months age should receive two doses of MMR prior to departure regardless of their international destination. The second dose of MMR can be administered as early as 4 weeks after the first. Children between 6 and 11 months of age should receive a single dose of MMR prior to departure. If the initial dose is administered at less than 12 months of age, two additional doses will need to be administered to complete the series beginning at 12 months of age.
While measles is no longer endemic in the United States, as of April 25, 2014, there have been 154 cases reported from 14 states. (See measles graphic.) The majority of cases were imported by unvaccinated travelers who became ill after returning home and exposed susceptible individuals. In the last few years, most of the U.S. cases were imported from Western Europe. Currently, there are several countries experiencing record numbers of cases, including Vietnam (3,700) and the Philippines (26,000). This is not to imply that ongoing international outbreaks are limited to these two countries. For additional information, go to cdc.gov/measles.
• Identify someone in your area as a local resource for travel-related information and referrals. Make sure they are willing to see children. Develop a system to send out reminders to families to seek pretravel advice, ideally at least 1 month prior to departure. For children with chronic diseases or compromised immune systems, destination selection may need to be adjusted depending on their medical needs, availability of comparable health care at the overseas destination, and ability to receive pretravel vaccine interventions. Involvement prior to booking the trip would be advisable. Many offices successfully send out reminders for well visits and influenza vaccine. Consider incorporating one for overseas travel.
• The timing of initiation of antimalarial prophylaxis is dependent on the medication. Weekly medications such as chloroquine and mefloquine should begin at least 2 weeks prior to exposure. Atovaquone/proguanil and doxycycline are two drugs that are administered daily, and travelers can begin as late as 2 days prior to entry into a malaria-endemic area. This is a great option for the last-minute traveler.
However, there are contraindications for the use of each drug. Some are age dependent, while others are directly related to the presence of a specific medical condition. Areas where chloroquine-sensitive malaria is present are limited. It is always important to prescribe a prophylactic antimalarial agent, but even more prudent to prescribe the appropriate drug and dosage.
Not sure which drug is most appropriate for your patient? Refer to your local travel medicine expert, or visit cdc.gov/malaria.
• The accompanying table lists vaccines that are traditionally considered to be travel vaccines, but pediatricians and family physicians might not consider all to belong in that group. Most are not required for entry into a specific country, but are recommended based on the risk for potential exposure and disease acquisition. In contrast, yellow fever and meningococcal vaccines are required for entry into certain countries. Yellow fever vaccine can be administered only at authorized sites and should be received at least 10 days prior to arrival at the destination. As with routinely administered vaccines, occasionally there are shortages of travel-related vaccines. Most recently, a shortage of yellow fever vaccine has been resolved.