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A closer look at travellers' infections abroad: Finnish nationwide data with incidences, 2010 to 2012.
- Source :
-
Travel medicine and infectious disease [Travel Med Infect Dis] 2017 Jan - Feb; Vol. 15, pp. 29-36. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Oct 21. - Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Background: Although infections represent the most common health problem of travellers abroad, data on morbidity and incidences of various infections are scarce.<br />Method: Data on infections of Finnish travellers during 2010-2012 were retrieved from the database of SOS International, an assistance organization covering 95% of Finns requiring aid abroad. The study included 30,086 cases. For incidence calculation, the data were linked to the numbers of Finns visiting these regions during the same period as recorded by the Official Statistics of Finland.<br />Results: The incidence of infections was particularly high in Africa, southern Europe plus the eastern Mediterranean, and Asia plus Oceania. The most frequent diagnoses were acute gastroenteritis (38.0%) and respiratory-tract infections (RTI) (34.5%), followed by infections of the ear (12.6%), skin or subcutaneous tissue (5.1%), urogenital tract (4.2%), eye (3.1%), and systemic febrile infections (2.2%). Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) accounted for 0.8% of cases, with varicella as most (49%) and influenza as second-most (27%) common.<br />Conclusions: Incidence of infections was higher in southern than in eastern and western Europe. Gastroenteritis and RTI proved the most frequent diagnoses, whereas systemic febrile infections were uncommon. Despite pre-travel immunizations, VPDs still occurred; pre-travel consultation should cover both varicella and influenza.<br /> (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Adult
Africa
Asia
Communicable Disease Control
Diarrhea epidemiology
Diarrhea etiology
Diarrhea prevention & control
Europe
Female
Fever epidemiology
Fever etiology
Fever prevention & control
Finland epidemiology
Gastroenteritis etiology
Gastroenteritis prevention & control
Humans
Incidence
Influenza, Human epidemiology
Influenza, Human etiology
Influenza, Human prevention & control
Information Storage and Retrieval
Male
Morbidity
Respiratory Tract Infections etiology
Respiratory Tract Infections prevention & control
Vaccines
Communicable Diseases epidemiology
Communicable Diseases ethnology
Gastroenteritis epidemiology
Respiratory Tract Infections epidemiology
Travel
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1873-0442
- Volume :
- 15
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Travel medicine and infectious disease
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 27773779
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2016.10.007