biology

Travel medicine

Travel medicine is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Travel medicine rather than just read about it. In short: Travel medicine or emporiatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention and management of health problems of international travelers. Globalization and travel Globalization facilitates the spread of disease and increases the number of travelers who will be exposed to a different health environment.

Key takeaways

Travel medicine belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Travel medicine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Travel medicine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Travel medicine or emporiatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention and management of health problems of international travelers.

Globalization and travel Globalization facilitates the spread of disease and increases the number of travelers who will be exposed to a different health environment. Major content areas of travel medicine include the global epidemiology of health risks to the traveler, vaccinology, malaria prevention, and pre-travel counseling designed to maintain the health of the approximately 600 million international travelers. It has been estimated that about 80 million travelers go annually from developed to developing countries.

Mortality and morbidity Mortality studies indicate that cardiovascular disease accounts for most deaths during travel (50–70%), while injury and accident follow (~25%). Infectious disease accounts for about 2.8–4% of deaths during/from travel. Morbidity studies suggest that about half of people from a developed country who stay one month in a developing country will get sick. Traveler's diarrhea is the most common problem encountered.

Disciplines The field of travel medicine encompasses a wide variety of disciplines including epidemiology, infectious disease, public health, tropical medicine, high altitude physiology, travel related obstetrics, psychiatry, occupational medicine, military and migration medicine, and environmental health. Special itineraries and activities include cruise ship travel, diving, mass gatherings (e.g. the Hajj), and wilderness/remote regions travel. Travel medicine can primarily be divided into four main topics: prevention (vaccination and travel advice), assistance (dealing with repatriation and medical treatment of travelers), wilderness medicine (e.g. high-altitude medicine, cruise ship medicine, expedition medicine, etc.) and access to health care, provided by travel insurance.

Focus Travel medicine includes pre-travel consultation and evaluation, contingency planning during travel, and post-travel follow-up and care. Information is provided by the WHO that addresses health issues for travelers for each country as well as the specific health risks of air travel itself. Also, the CDC publishes valuable and up-to-date information. Key areas to consider are vaccination and the seven I's:

Insects: repellents, mosquito nets, antimalarial medication Ingestions: safety of drinking water, food Indiscretion: HIV, sexually transmitted disease Injuries: accident avoidance, personal safety, safety around animals Immersion: schistosomiasis Immunization (pre-travel vaccination) Insurance: coverage and services during travel, access to health care

Specific disease problems Yellow fever is endemic to certain areas in Africa and South America. The CDC site delineates the risk areas and provides information about vaccination and preventive steps. Meningococcal meningitis is endemic in the tropical meningococcal belt of Africa. Vaccination is required for pilgrims going to Mecca. Detailed information is available on the CDC site. Malaria prevention consists of preventing or reducing exposure to mosquitoes by using screened rooms, air-conditioning, and nets, and use of repellents (usually DEET). In addition, chemoprophylaxis is started before travel, during the time of potential exposure, and for four weeks (chloroquine, doxycycline, or mefloquine) or seven days (atovaquone/proguanil or primaquine) after leaving the risk area.

Medication kit The traveler should have a medication kit to provide for necessary and useful medication. Based on circumstances, it should also include malaria prophylaxis, condoms, and medication to combat traveler's diarrhea. In addition, a basic first aid kit can be of use. Studies have shown there are four main medical problems that travellers develop—diarrhoea or gut problems, respiratory problems, wounds and pain. The medical kit should at least address these common things. Research has also shown that the best treatment for travellers diarrhoea is to take an antibiotic (e.g. ciprofloxacin) plus a stopper (e.g. loperamide). Due to bacterial resistance, different parts of the world require different antibiotics. It is best to consult a travel doctor to sort out the best medical kit for the exact destination and medical history of the person travelling.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Travel medicine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Travel medicine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Travel medicine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Travel medicine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Travel medicine

In research: Travel medicine appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Travel medicine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Travel medicine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Medical specialties, Travel, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Travel medicine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Travel medicine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Travel medicine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Travel medicine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Travel medicine in simple terms?

Travel medicine or emporiatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention and management of health problems of international travelers. Globalization and travel Globalization facilitates the spread of disease and increases the number of travelers who will be exposed to a different he…

Why does Travel medicine matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Travel medicine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Travel medicine.