Post-Travel Consultations in a Regional Hub City Hospital, Japan

To clarify the characteristics of post-travel consultation services in Japan, particularly in the provinces, we analyzed our post-travel patients in the travel clinic of Kurume University Hospital located in Kurume City (a regional hub City in southwestern Japan).

Sixty post-travel patients visited our clinic between April 2008 and October 2014 and participated in this study: 55 were Japanese and five were foreign. We summarized and compared the characteristics of the patients after dividing the Japanese participants into long-term travelers (>14 days) and short-term travelers (≤14 days). The foreign travelers were described in a separate analysis.

Of the 55 Japanese travelers, the mean age (± standard deviation) was 37.3 ± 16.3 years, and 36 patients (65%) were men. Southeast Asia was the major destination (30/55, 55%), and business was stated as the major reason for travel (16/55, 29%). Post-exposure rabies prophylaxis (16/55, 29%) was the most common purpose for the consultations. There were 34 participants (62%) who were classified as short-term travelers. Fewer of the short-term travelers stated receiving pre-travel consultations compared with long-term travelers (11% vs. 79%, p=0.0002). The five foreign travelers included one dengue fever patient and two malaria patients.

Most post-travel Japanese patients visited our clinic were short-term travelers who had not received any pre-travel consultation. One of the most common complaints, post-exposure rabies prophylaxis, could have been avoided to some extent by appropriate pre-travel consultations. The results of this study suggest that pre-travel consultations should therefore be encouraged for both long- and short-term travelers.