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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 77(4), 2007, pp. 764-769
Copyright © 2007 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Incidence and Types of Illness When Traveling to the Tropics: A Prospective Controlled Study of Children and Their Parents

Catherine Newman-Klee, Valérie D’Acremont, Christopher J. Newman, Mario Gehri, AND Blaise Genton*
Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland; Travel Clinic, Department of Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland

Increasingly, families travel to tropical destinations exposing them to infectious agents and tropical diseases not encountered at home. We studied 157 children (0–16 years) and their adult relatives traveling to the tropics, who attended a pretravel clinic and were generally adherent to prescribed advice. Incidence rates of common illness in children and adults were respectively 16.9 (14.3–19.7) and 15.1 (12.7–17.8) episodes/100 person-weeks. Diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever were the most frequent complaints. There was no significant difference in the incidence of morbid episodes between children and adults, except for fever (more frequent in children). Most episodes occurred in the first 10 days of travel. The similar incidence of morbidity in children and adults and the episodes’ mildness challenge the view that it is unwise to travel with small children.

Received February 17, 2007. Accepted for publication June 13, 2007.

Acknowledgments: We warmly thank Marie-José Puelma, who was instrumental in the recruitment of families, as well as the other nurses and physicians of the travel clinic. The authors thank the study subjects, especially the parents who agreed to regularly fill in the questionnaire.

* Address correspondence to Blaise Genton, Swiss Tropical Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4002 Basel, Switzerland. E-mail: Blaise.genton{at}unibas.ch

Authors’ addresses: Catherine Newman-Klee, Department of Pediatrics, Hôpital de Morges, Ch. du Crêt 2, 1110 Morges, Switzerland, Telephone: +41 21 802 06 77, Fax: +41 21 545 01 10. Valérie D’Acremont and Blaise Genton, Ifakara Health Research & Development Centre, P.O. Box 78373, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Telephone: +255 787 957883 (V.D’A.), +255 786 190069 (B.G.). Christopher Newman, Department of Pediatrics, Lausanne University Hospital, 1010 Lausanne, Switzerland, Telephone: +41 21 545 06 07, Fax: +41 21 545 01 10. Mario Gehri, Children’s Hospital, Ch. de Montétan 16, 1000 Lausanne, Switzerland, Telephone: +41 21 627 28 29.

Reprint requests: Blaise Genton, Swiss Tropical Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4002 Basel, Switzerland, E-mail: Blaise.genton{at}unibas.ch.






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Copyright © 2007 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.