Routine Vaccination for Travelers from Emerging Countries: Epidemiological Profile of a Public Travel Medicine Clinic in Sao Paulo/Brazil

Introduction: Emerging countries have increased their presence in international travel (۴۶.۸% of travels). Pre- and post-travel consultations may provide insights about travelers’ health. Methods: A retrospective descriptive analysis of the medical data of all travelers assisted at Ambulatório dos Viajantes, a free public health clinic for travelers in São Paulo, Brazil, from January to December ۲۰۱۶ was performed. The patients were profiled based on post-travel consultation data and screened by gender, age according to the United Nations working-age population distribution (۰-۱۴ years, children; ۱۵-۲۴ years, youths; ۲۵-۶۵ years, working age; over ۶۵ years, older persons), travel destination, and diseases that affected travelers. Results: In ۲۰۱۶ (n=۲۸۰ appointments), ۹۳.۹۲% of clients received some type of vaccine (regular or booster dose). Post-travel consultations (n=۲۷; ۹.۶۴%) were predominantly male (۶۲.۹۶% of appointments) and comprised cases of malaria (۴۴.۴%; ۶ positive cases of Plasmodium falciparum, ۴ positive cases of Plasmodium vivax, and ۲ unclassified), fever (۷.۴%), AGE - acute gastroenteritis (۷.۴%), hepatitis A (۳.۷%), nausea (۳.۷%), insect bite (۳.۷%), abdominal pain (۳.۷%), arthralgia (۳.۷%), vaginal discharge (۳.۷%), and cases under investigation (۱۸.۵%). Brazilian travelers presented the same incidence of post-travel counseling as developed countries’ travel medicine clinics (~۹%). Conclusion: Immunization in pre-travel counseling may reduce the importation of preventable infectious diseases and increase Brazilians’ traveler vaccine coverage, a current concern in the country.

Keywords:

Clinics , counseling , Vaccination