Hospital-based care and/or death followed by repatriation in Dutch travelers: The HAZARD study.

Background: Travelers can experience health problems while abroad. This descriptive study aimed to quantify the disease burden leading to hospital-based care, repatriation or death in Dutch travelers during a stay in a foreign country, including Europe.

Methods: Retrospective study of demographic and clinical data from three medical assistance centers (MACs) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Dutch travelers receiving hospital-based care or who died abroad in the years 2010-2014.

National review of reported Yellow fever vaccine incidents in the UK.

Background: Yellow fever (YF) vaccination is the single most important preventative measure against YF infection, however the live attenuated vaccine has associated serious adverse events. All YF vaccinations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (EWNI) are administered in YF Vaccination Centres and comply with National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) Conditions of Designation and Code of Practice, including reporting of vaccine incidents to NaTHNaC. In this study we evaluated the number and type of YF vaccine incidents in EWNI to identify areas for improvement.

A diagnostic evaluation of single screen testing for malaria in the returning traveler: A large retrospective cohort study.

Background: Screening for malaria in the returning traveler has often required repeat testing; however, audit data suggest that patients have not been reattending. We sought to ascertain if this was safe by examining the diagnostic efficacy of a single screen consisting of a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and a thin film.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with suspected malaria who attended in the past 5 years from two large teaching hospitals.

Best practices in ranking communicable disease threats: a literature review, 2015.

The threat of serious, cross-border communicable disease outbreaks in Europe poses a significant challenge to public health and emergency preparedness because the relative likelihood of these threats and the pathogens involved are constantly shifting in response to a range of changing disease drivers. To inform strategic planning by enabling effective resource allocation to manage the consequences of communicable disease outbreaks, it is useful to be able to rank and prioritise pathogens. This paper reports on a literature review which identifies and evaluates the range of methods used for risk ranking.