Travel/Tropical Medicine and Pandemic Considerations for the Global Surgeon

Abstract

International travel goes hand in hand with medical delivery to underserved communities. The global health care worker can be exposed to a wide range of infectious diseases during their global experiences. A pretravel risk assessment visit and all appropriate vaccinations and education must be performed. Universal practices of water safety, food safety, and insect avoidance will prevent most travel-related infections and complications. Region-specific vaccinations will further reduce illness risk. An understanding of common travel-related illness signs and symptoms is helpful. Emerging pathogens that can cause a pandemic should be understood to avoid health care worker infection and spread.

Keywords: Encephalitis; Food-borne illness; Pandemic; Preparation for global surgery; Public health; Tick-borne illness; Travel medicine; Tropical medicine.