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Profile of travel-associated illness in children, Zürich, Switzerland

Thomas Hunziker1, Christoph Berger, Georg Staubli

  • 1University of Zürich Centre for Travel Medicine, World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Travellers' Health, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.

Journal of Travel Medicine
|April 26, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Travel-associated illnesses in children visiting family or tropical regions are common, with diarrhea and respiratory issues most frequent. Serious conditions like malaria and typhoid fever were seen, particularly in visiting friends and relatives (VFR) children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Travel Medicine
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Increasing numbers of families travel with children to their country of origin or tropical destinations.
  • This trend includes a diverse, multinational patient population in Switzerland.
  • Understanding travel-associated illnesses is crucial for prevention and treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To define the profile of travel-associated illnesses in children presenting to a Swiss pediatric emergency department.
  • To identify common diagnoses and serious conditions encountered in returned child travelers.
  • To analyze factors influencing disease profiles, such as age and travel type.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of children under 16 years old seeking medical advice for presumed travel-related illness.
  • Data collected from the University of Zürich Children's Hospital emergency room between July 2007 and December 2008.
  • Categorization of travelers into tourists, visiting friends and relatives (VFR), and immigrants.

Main Results:

  • 328 children presented with travel-associated illness; 11% required hospitalization.
  • Most common conditions were diarrheal illness (39%), respiratory (28.7%), and febrile/systemic illness (13.4%).
  • Serious diagnoses included malaria, typhoid fever, and meningococcal meningitis, predominantly in VFR or immigrant children.

Conclusions:

  • Diarrhea, respiratory, and febrile illnesses were the primary diagnoses in children returning to Zürich.
  • A wide range of serious diseases, including malaria and typhoid fever, were observed.
  • Disease profiles varied by geographic region, with visiting friends and relatives (VFR) children representing a significant proportion of cases.
Abstract

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