Effectiveness of pre-travel consultation in the prevention of travel-related diseases: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of pre-travel counselling carried out in Travel Clinics.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort. Three hundred international travellers were enrolled; 150 people were from users of Bari Travel Clinic, 150 were users of a travel agency. Enrolled subjects were interviewed using a questionnaire.

Results: The average age of the enrolled subjects was 37.5 ± 13.9, without statistically significant differences between the two groups. 86% of cases and 19.3% of the controls reported the use of anti-malaria prophylaxis (p < 0.0001). Vaccination against cholera was given to 62% of cases and 7.3% of the controls (p < 0.001). Travel Clinic users, 6% reported diarrhoea and these figures were 27% in the control group (p < 0.0001). The proportion of those interviewed who reported fever (3.7) or insomnia (1.3) did not differ between the two groups. Mosquito bites were reported by 8% of cases and 20% of the controls (p = 0.003). Three cases of malaria were reported among the controls but no cases were detected among the cases (chi-square = 3.03; p = 0.08).

Conclusions: Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of pre-travel counselling; in the future, new studies must investigate the cost-effectiveness of pre-travel prevention measures.