ABSTRACT
International travel brings a world of experiences and opportunities but also carries a degree of health risks that can often be prevented or better managed if appropriate pretravel preparation is undertaken. Retrospective case series of traveler health risks have documented the wide range of health problems that may be associated with international travel (1). Both noninfectious and infectious diseases are well represented with the predominant causes of death being accidents (motor vehicle and drowning) and cardiovascular related in younger and older travelers, respectively (2). Infections account for significant morbidity and mortality both during and after international travel, particularly into developing tropical regions (1,3). There is a predominance of enteric transmission as the most common route of infection with the usual clinical syndrome being traveler’s diarrhea (1,3). Food-and water-borne infections such as typhoid fever, cholera, hepatitis A, and uncommonly agents of traveler’s diarrhea occasionally result in critical illness in travelers. The most common life-threatening infection in returning travelers is malaria, and this will be emphasized in this chapter.
