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Vaccination priorities.
Robert Steffen1, Ana Baños, Chiara deBernardis
1World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Travellers' Health, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Sumatrastrasse 30, CH-8006 Zurich, Switzerland. travclin@ifspm.unizh.ch
International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents
|March 5, 2003
Summary
Travelers should prioritize immunizations based on destination risks and routine health needs. Recommended vaccines, like Hepatitis A and B, offer crucial protection against common travel-related infections.
Area of Science:
- Travel Medicine
- Infectious Disease Prevention
- Public Health
Background:
- International travel necessitates adherence to vaccination requirements, such as yellow fever, cholera, and meningococcal disease, as mandated by International Health Regulations.
- Routine immunizations are critical to review during travel health consultations, with recommended vaccines often providing more significant health benefits than required ones.
- Assessing individual risk factors is paramount for determining appropriate travel-related immunizations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline the selection criteria for travel immunizations, balancing required vaccinations with those recommended based on infection risk.
- To highlight the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases in travelers and inform vaccination strategies.
- To provide guidance on prioritizing travel health interventions for different risk groups.
Main Methods:
- Review of International Health Regulations for mandatory vaccinations.
- Analysis of incidence rates for vaccine-preventable diseases in international travelers.
- Evaluation of risk factors associated with specific infections like Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, influenza, poliomyelitis, rabies, and typhoid fever.
Main Results:
- Hepatitis A is the most common vaccine-preventable illness in travelers to developing countries (0.3% monthly incidence).
- High-risk groups like backpackers face a 2.0% monthly incidence of Hepatitis A.
- Vaccination against Hepatitis B is increasingly recommended for young travelers to developing regions due to potential exposure risks.
Conclusions:
- Vaccine selection for travelers should be risk-based, prioritizing common infections like Hepatitis A and B.
- While some diseases like meningococcal disease and Japanese encephalitis are rare in travelers, others like influenza and poliomyelitis remain significant concerns.
- The decision to vaccinate should be guided by a professional assessment of individual risk levels and potential exposure, rather than a blanket approach to all available vaccines.