[Health information of intercontinental Spanish travelers]

To investigate the level of health information and degree of protection of Spanish travelers to tropical and temperate zones, 910 individuals were interviewed in the Prat del Llobregat airport before their departure. Very low levels of protection were detected, regarding both compulsory and optional vaccines as well as antimalarial protection. It was found out that the information sources that had been consulted were not the optimal ones and that they had delivered remarkably inaccurate advice. Only 44% had received some type of vaccination. Important geographic errors were recorded regarding vaccination against yellow fever. Few travelers received optional vaccines, although these provide protection against highly prevalent diseases in tropical areas. Errors in antimalarial chemoprophylaxis were related both to drug dosage and their adequacy to the corresponding areas. Travelers prematurely interrupted prophylaxis in a progressive fashion depending on the number of elapsed weeks. Only 33% of the 39% who started prophylaxis before leaving completed it correctly. Travelers from health care professions had a higher rate of early abandonment of antimalarial prophylaxis and a worse immune protection against yellow fever, with a 5% signification level (p less than 0.05) when compared with the rest of travelers. Suggestions to improve this situations are made, such as an adequate education of health professionals and the general population, the reshaping of official vaccination centers and the introduction of adequate antimalarial drugs in the Spanish pharmacopeia.