Infection in travellers Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is considered as travelling?
International flights, domestic flights, camping trips, trips within Australia to the tropics. Anything that involves people moving from one area to another
What are some common infections in specific countries?
Ebola - PNG Polio - Somalia, Kenya and Ethopia Rubella - Poland and Japan Cholera - Haiti, cuba MERS-CoV - Arabia Malaria - Egypt
What else do we need to be aware of in terms of travelling and infection?
Not only what infections are prevalent in countries but also that humans can become vehicles of travel (e.g. SARS)
What are some barriers to delivering vaccines?
Politics. E.g. Nigeria Kano state governor objected to polio vaccines because of a belief that that it was an attempt to exploit developing countries
what is the problem with live polio vaccine?
IT can revert back to virulent type and cause disease
What is the commonest cause of fatal community acquired pneumonia in NT?
Meliooidosis
Note; Pneumococcus is commonest in victoria
What additional immunisations for medical student elective in remote indigenous communities in north/central Australia?
Hep A and Hep B (should already have)
What is the most common infection in travellers?
Travellers’ diarrhoea
Of the 25-30 million travellers from non-tropics to developing countries, how many develop health problems overseas?
50%
How many cases of travel-associated malaria per year are there?
30,000
List the common illnesses when travelling to a developing country
Travellers' diarrhoea: 20-60% Acute respiratory infection: 5-20% Malaria: 2% Dengue fever: 0.1% Hep A: 0.03-0.3% Animal bites with rabies: 0.3%
What sort of health advice will you give travellers?
Adopt safe behaviours. Safe sex, avoid tick bites, make sure eating and drinking from safe sources
Of the respiratory infections in travellers, what is most common for young, adults and elderly?
Young (20-25): Acute OM, Streptococcus
Adult (25-40): Sinusitis, tonsilitis, URTI, influenza
Elderly (>60): Legionnaires disease
in general, younger people have more URTI and older people have more LRTI
What is the most common vaccine-preventable disease of travel?
Influenza
What countries have a lot of GIT infections (diarrhoea etc)?
India, SE Asia, Africa, S. America
Most are bacterial origin
What sex does Malaria infect more?
Young boys
Are there any sex difference in overseas acquired Dengue?
NO
What treavellers are more likely to get Malaria if travel to malaria endemic area
VFR: Visiting friends and relatives because they are likely to have closer contact with locals and eat/drink their food.
Which age group is most at risk of death due to Malaria infection?
> 65 years
Note; the familiarity of rare diseases - the less practitioners see Malaria the more chance of death. Low index of suspescion and lack of prompt diagnosis
What is the mean time to death following Malaria infection?
3-7 days
What is the current best drug for Malaria?
Artemisin. Now some strains are resistant
Where is there a high incidence of P.vivax?
PNG and oceana
What is the most common cause of mortality in travellers?
CVD: 49%
Inintentional injury: 22%
Medical: 13.7%
Cancer: 5.9%
What percentage of travellers seek medical advice before they leave?
55% and most of these are females
35% ask GP
9.5% go to a travel clinic
6% pharmacist
