With the surge of global tourism comes the possibility of exposure to rabies. A new review of the current rabies considerations for travelers is published in the latest issue of Wilderness Medicine. In 2004, tourism growth was particularly strong in Asia and the Pacific, where it increased 28 percent. In 2005, growth was strongest in Sub-Saharan Africa, 13 percent, and Kenya had an increase of 26 percent. Well over 90 percent of human rabies deaths occur in these two areas.
Despite the growing risk of rabies with increased tourism, ignorance about rabies abounds. This is seen in a written survey completed at the 1998 Los Angeles Times Travel Meeting, which was attended by 23,500 people. Though the respondents described themselves as “seasoned travelers taking frequent international trips,” only 33 percent knew that rabies was 100 percent fatal in humans, and that the disease can be contracted without a person’s knowledge. In addition, a high majority of the rabies cases in the United States and the United Kingdom were acquired in other countries, which makes the case for travelers to study the risk of rabies.
Recommendations for a pre-exposure vaccine vary somewhat from group to group. The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that travelers obtain the vaccine when going to areas where there is rabies for a stay of 30 days or more.
In 1991, a group of investigators at the Canadian International Water and Energy Consultants (CIWEC) clinic in Kathmandu challenged the recommendation for travelers because the cost of vaccination is high, and they determined the probability for exposure to be low. However, investigators from the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute in Bangkok subsequently surveyed 1,882 departing English-speaking travelers from the Bangkok air terminal and determined that 1.2 percent had been bitten by a dog and 8.7 percent had been licked by a dog during their stay. These investigators recommended that all travelers be routinely vaccinated for rabies by the intramuscular route.
Another consideration for the pre-exposure vaccine is post-exposure therapy. If travelers are unable to receive timely post-exposure therapy, the vaccine is recommended, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study. This is echoed by the CIWEC clinic that recommends pre-exposure vaccination for travelers visiting locations more than 24 hours from a reliable source of post-exposure rabies vaccine.
In a global world, significant factors affect the spread of infectious diseases, including international trade, air travel and globalized food production. "Airport malaria" is a term coined by researchers to explain the more recent spread of malaria to areas such as the United States and Europe, which some scientists credit to warmer climate changes.Airport malaria is transmitted when a mosquito ...
BALTIMORE -- New vaccine requirements will affect anyone who is applying for an immigrant visa for entry into the U.S. and anyone seeking adjustment of status for permanent residence. Applicants must show proof of vaccinations against vaccine-preventable diseases, as recommended by the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Passport Health, a company that specializes in travel medicine and vaccinations, announced ...
Diarrhea PatchResearchers at the University of Texas School of Public Health have found that patients given a travelers’ diarrhea vaccine were significantly less likely to suffer from clinically significant diarrhea than those who received placebo, according to a study published in this week’s edition of the Lancet. The patch-based vaccine is part of the Phase 2 study in conjunction with ...
As Americans travel to Israel for the Jewish holiday of Passover, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises all travelers to ensure they are protected from measles before departing, because of a measles outbreak in Israel. Since September, more than 900 cases of measles have been reported in Israel, with about 700 cases in the cities of Jerusalem ...
DENVER -- Michelle Reesman, RN, executive director of Passport Health Colorado, says far too many international travelers, from business travelers to the more adventurous types, leave home without taking the basic steps she suggests below. "People need to put the same kind of preparation into their health as they do into their destination choice, passport acquisition or flight plans," ...
Bacteria and viruses are the microscopic organisms – otherwise known as germs -- that are responsible for causing and transmitting illness and disease. These microbes are so small, that according to the American Society for Microbiology, if the smallest of all microbes was the size of a baseball, an average bacterium would then be the size of the pitcher's mound, and just one of the millions of cells that make up your body would be the size of the ballpark!
