Self-diagnosis of malaria by travellers: a cohort study on the use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests provided by a Swiss travel clinic.

Background: The WHO recommends that all suspect malaria cases be tested before receiving treatment. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) for malaria can be performed reliably by community health workers with no formal medical background and thus, RDTs could also be provided to travellers for self-diagnosis during visits to endemic regions.

Methods: RDTs were proposed during pre-travel consultations to pre-defined categories of travellers.

Malaria prevention strategies and recommendations, from chemoprophylaxis to stand-by emergency treatment: a 10-year prospective study in a Swiss Travel Clinic.

Background: There are several possible malaria prevention strategies for travellers. In Switzerland, chemoprophylaxis (CP) is recommended for persons visiting areas highly endemic for malaria and stand-by emergency treatment (SBET) for areas with moderate to low risk.

Objective: To describe the type of malaria prevention prescribed to travel clinic attendees with a specific focus on changes over time following adaptation of recommendations.

Travellers' profile, travel patterns and vaccine practices--a 10-year prospective study in a Swiss Travel Clinic.

Background: The travel clinic in Lausanne serves a catchment area of 700 000 of inhabitants and provides pre- and post-travel consultations. This study describes the profile of attendees before departure, their travel patterns and the travel clinic practices in terms of vaccination over time.

Methods: We included all pre-travel first consultation data recorded between November 2002 and December 2012 by a custom-made program DIAMM/G.