Travellers with prosthetic limbs, a neglected population. A perspective on what travel health practitioners need to know.

Background: The benefits of travel for the wellbeing of people of all ages and abilities are well known, though travellers with prostheses have so far been excluded. Limb loss, due to trauma, vascular disease, cancer, or infections requires a prosthesis for cosmesis and functionality. The life-changing event of losing a limb and the considerable psychological adjustment to accept an altered body image influence rehabilitation and self-management as well as the participation in social activities, such as sport and travel.

Travel medicine in Basel - 450 years before CISTM18.

Concern for travellers' wellbeing and safety is as old as humankind. Historic documents offer insights into how a safe journey was prepared or travel ailments treated based on the prevailing knowledge of body and (dys)function. In 1561, Guilhelmo Gratarolo published a comprehensive book on what we call today 'travel medicine'.

Robots in travel clinics: building on tourism's use of technology and robots for infection control during a pandemic.

The arrival of COVID-19 impacted every aspect of life around the world. The virus, whose spread was facilitated overwhelmingly by people's close contact at home and by travelling, devastated the tourism, hospitality, and transportation industry. Economic survival depended largely on demonstrating to authorities and potential travellers the strict adherence to infection control measures.

The oral repellent - science fiction or common sense? Insects, vector-borne diseases, failing strategies, and a bold proposition.

Over the last decades, unimaginable amounts of money have gone into research and development of vector control measures, repellents, treatment, and vaccines for vector borne diseases. Technological progress and scientific breakthroughs allowed for ever more sophisticated and futuristic strategies. Yet, each year, millions of people still die or suffer from potentially serious consequences of malaria or dengue to more recent infections, such as zika or chikungunya, or of debilitating consequences of neglected tropical diseases.

COVID-19: how can travel medicine benefit from tourism's focus on people during a pandemic?

In 2020, COVID-19 affected every aspect of life around the globe. The spread of SARS-CoV-2 through travel led to lockdowns, travel bans and border closures, crippling the tourism industry. Without tourists, there would be no tourism industry-and no travel medicine.

Death as attraction: the role of travel medicine and psychological travel health care in 'dark tourism'.

Still an evolving field in travel medicine, psychological travel health has not yet been linked to tourist products that may affect travellers' mental wellbeing. Dark tourism, the travel to sites linked to death, atrocities and suffering, is a product that, on the one hand, attracts people with a keen interest in death-related attractions and, on the other hand, may inflict psychological scars. Of particular concern are travellers with undiagnosed or diagnosed mental illness.

Healthy, safe and responsible: the modern female traveller.

One-half of all travellers are women; yet, there is a distinct lack of detailed travel health knowledge on topics of unique relevance to women. While there is medical advice relating to stages in the female lifecycle, it neglects women-specific practical aspects despite their ability to harm travellers' health and cause inconvenience. This paper discusses comprehensively three major aspects of travel as they relate to women.

Visiting the 'green fairy': Absinthe-tourism - A potential challenge for travel medicine?

Increasingly, travellers are looking for novel and unusual tourism experiences. Local produce, such as wine and food, has long been a strong visitor magnet. The search for pleasurable experiences has extended to substances that may be illegal at home, or to those surrounded by mystery.

Improving global health - is tourism's role in poverty elimination perpetuating poverty, powerlessness and 'ill-being'?

The spectrum of challenges for public health in a global context is ever expanding. It is difficult for health professionals to keep informed about details of key issues affecting global health determinants such as poverty. Tourism is seen as one strategy to eliminate poverty in developing countries and to improve global health, but the industry struggles with keeping its promise.

Contact lens wearers' experiences while trekking in the Khumbu region/Nepal: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Safe contact lens wear depends on a hygiene regime and lens-appropriate wear patterns which may be compromised during travel in remote and wilderness areas. The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of contact lens wearers while trekking at high-altitude in Nepal.

Methods: For this descriptive study, trekkers with contact lenses were recruited in Lukla and invited to complete an online-questionnaire on trip preparation, contact lens use, care and experiences, and possible changes for future travel.

Airport surveys at travel destinations--underutilized opportunities in travel medicine research?

Background: Research in destination airports, especially in resource-poor areas, allows unique immediate access to travelers at the conclusion of their trip. Response rates are high and the recall gap small. Trip-related health matters can be elicited relatively easily.

Romance tourism or female sex tourism?

Background: Love, sex and the female traveller: romance tourism or female sex tourism? The phenomenon of women travelling in search of relationships with local men in developing countries has been studied for the last 20 years. However, it appears little known in travel medicine.

Methods: Relevant literature was found through PubMed, Science Direct, ProQuest and Google Scholar.

Candiru--a little fish with bad habits: need travel health professionals worry? A review.

Background: Over the last 150 years, a little South American fish with alleged unsavory habits has become the stuff legends are made of. With growing visitor numbers to the Amazon basin, the question of whether the animal poses a threat to the many travelers to the region arises.

Methods: Scientific literature was identified by searching MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, and Google Scholar.

Sex education for local tourism/hospitality employees: addressing a local health need.

Health concerns arising from sexual relationships between tourists and locals usually focus on the travelling public. The local sex partners' health, and their impact on their communities' health, seem far less acknowledged. This paper describes a local health education session which implemented recommendations based on a study in Cuzco/Peru on tourists' and locals' views, knowledge, attitudes and experiences relating to sexual relationships between them.

The health of host communities: missing from printed travel health advice.

Travelers are becoming increasingly used to the need to seek appropriate health advice before embarking on trips, particularly to developing countries. Travel health advice is given in various ways and through various media.1 Printed material often accompanies a travel health professional's oral explanations.

Knowledge and behavior of tourists to Manu National Park, Peru, in relation to Leishmaniasis.

Background: Tourists have been infected with Leishmania braziliensis and the lack of appropriate travel information on the disease has been documented. The aim of this study was to describe the knowledge and behavior of tourists booked on a trip to Manu National Park in Peru in relation to leishmaniasis and its prevention.

Methods: The clients of two tour operators in Cusco, Peru, represented the experimental and control group.