Boostability after single-visit pre-exposure prophylaxis with rabies vaccine: a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.

Background: After rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) vaccination, scarcely available rabies immunoglobulins are not required for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). However, PrEP is not sufficiently accessible as it is cost-intensive and time-intensive. This study investigates whether rabies PrEP schedules can be shortened to one visit, removing some of these barriers.

Post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome after intercontinental travel: a prospective multicentre study.

By longitudinally following a large cohort of intercontinental travellers, this study highlights the importance of considering multiple risk factors to comprehend post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS). Stomach cramps, antibiotic use and nausea during travel were amongst the variables that predicted PI-IBS development following an episode of traveller’s diarrhoea.

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.

Measles seroprevalence among Dutch travelling families.

Background: While measles vaccination is widely implemented in national immunisation programmes, measles incidence rates are increasing worldwide. Dutch inhabitants who were born between 1965-1975 may have fallen between two stools, lacking protection from a natural infection, and having missed the introduction of the measles vaccination schedule. With this study we aim to find the measles seroprevalence in travellers born between 1965 and 1975, compared to those born before 1965 and after 1975.

Single-dose pentamidine substantially reduces viability of trypanosomes in human East African trypanosomiasis.

Examination of viability of trypomastigotes before and after single-dose pentamidine treatment demonstrated that single-dose pentamidine substantially affected motility of trypomastigotes, a proxy of drug efficacy. This suggests that single-dose pentamidine may be of added value to bridge time until suramin will be available for treatment of human East Africa trypanosomiasis.

A comparative study of Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2) blood levels and peripheral blood parasitemia as parameters of disease severity in individuals with imported falciparum malaria.

Background: In falciparum malaria the total parasite biomass can be estimated by blood levels of histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2), a Plasmodium falciparum-specific protein, which has been widely studied in malaria-endemic regions. This study investigates the usefulness of PfHRP2 as marker for disease severity in imported falciparum malaria.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was done in 145 patients with imported falciparum malaria.

Travel-related infections presenting in Europe: A 20-year analysis of EuroTravNet surveillance data.

Background: Disease epidemiology of (re-)emerging infectious diseases is changing rapidly, rendering surveillance of travel-associated illness important.

Methods: We evaluated travel-related illness encountered at EuroTravNet clinics, the European surveillance sub-network of GeoSentinel, between March 1, 1998 and March 31, 2018.

Findings: 103,739 ill travellers were evaluated, including 11,239 (10.

Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of International Travelers with Enteric Fever and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Their Isolates: a GeoSentinel Analysis.

Enteric fever, caused by serovar Typhi ( Typhi) and serovar Paratyphi ( Paratyphi), is a common travel-related illness. Limited data are available on the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns of these serovars among travelers. Records of travelers with a culture-confirmed diagnosis seen during or after travel from January 2007 to December 2018 were obtained from GeoSentinel.

Travel-related hepatitis E: a two-decade GeoSentinel analysis.

Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is widely distributed worldwide and is endemic in developing countries. Travel-related HEV infection has been reported at national levels, but global data are missing. Moreover, the global availability of HEV diagnostic testing has not been explored so far.

An open-label phase 1/2a trial of a genetically modified rodent malaria parasite for immunization against malaria.

For some diseases, successful vaccines have been developed using a nonpathogenic counterpart of the causative microorganism of choice. The nonpathogenicity of the rodent () parasite in humans prompted us to evaluate its potential as a platform for vaccination against human infection by (), a causative agent of malaria. We hypothesized that the genetic insertion of a leading protein target for clinical development of a malaria vaccine, circumsporozoite protein (CSP), in its natural pre-erythrocytic environment, would enhance 's capacity to induce protective immunity against infection.

Antigen-based diagnosis of Schistosoma infection in travellers: a prospective study.

Background: Travellers infected with Schistosoma spp. might be pauci- or even asymptomatic on first presentation. Therefore, schistosomiasis may remain undiagnosed in this population.

Prevalence and risk factors for carriage of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in a population of Dutch travellers: A cross-sectional study.

Background: We investigated prevalence and predictive factors for ESBL-E carriage in a population of mostly travellers prior to their travel (n = 2216). In addition, we examined ESBL genotype before travel and compared these to returning travellers.

Method: A questionnaire and faecal sample were collected before travel, and a second faecal sample was collected immediately after travel.

International mass gatherings and travel-associated illness: A GeoSentinel cross-sectional, observational study.

Background: Travelers to international mass gatherings may be exposed to conditions which increase their risk of acquiring infectious diseases. Most existing data come from single clinical sites seeing returning travelers, or relate to single events.

Methods: Investigators evaluated ill travelers returning from a mass gathering, and presenting to a GeoSentinel site between August 2015 and April 2019, and collected data on the nature of the event and the relation between final diagnoses and the mass gathering.

Adherence to hepatitis A travel health guidelines: A cross-sectional seroprevalence study in Dutch travelling families - The Dutch travel Vaccination Study (DiVeST).

Background: This Dutch travel Vaccination Study (DiVeST) aimed to study adherence or compliance to Dutch travel health guidelines in travelling families and to identify risk groups to provide better advice and protection for international travellers.

Methods: Between 2016 and 2018, family members who travelled to Eastern Europe or outside Europe during the preceding year were recruited via Dutch secondary schools. The vaccination status of the travellers was assessed using questionnaires and vaccination records and hepatitis A virus antibody concentrations in dried blood spot (DBS) eluates.

Transforming growth factor-beta profiles correlate with clinical symptoms and parameters of haemostasis and inflammation in a controlled human malaria infection.

Background: After a controlled human malaria infection (CHMI), presentation of clinical signs and symptoms and host responses is heterogeneous. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) is the first serum cytokine that changes in malaria-naïve volunteers after CHMI. We studied a possible relation between TGF-β changes, pro-inflammatory cytokines, activation of haemostasis and endothelial cells and clinical symptoms.

Ectopic cutaneous Schistosoma haematobium in the inguinal region.

A 66-year-old man with indolent systemic mastocytosis presented with a plaque-like cutaneous lesion at his right inguinal region. He had travelled to various African countries in the years before. Pathological examination revealed a granulomatous infiltrate surrounding eggs of .

[Yellow fever in Brazil: the importance of vaccination].

Background: Since 2016 outbreaks of yellow fever are reported in Brazil. This is a risk to unvaccinated travellers in that area.

Case Description: In early January, an unvaccinated traveller returning from São Paulo attended our outpatient clinic complaining of symptoms later diagnosed as yellow fever.

Illness among US resident student travellers after return to the USA: a GeoSentinel analysis, 2007-17.

Background: The number of US students studying abroad more than tripled during the past 20 years. As study abroad programmes' destinations diversify, students increasingly travel to resource-limited countries, placing them at risk for infectious diseases. Data describing infections acquired by US students while travelling internationally are limited.