Preparing young travellers for low resource destinations

Perceptions of travel-related health risks and pre-travel health-seeking behaviour among students: A qualitative analysis

“…Additionally, belief in pre-existing immunity from vaccination and/or previous residence overseas, particularly among those who had undertaken previous VFR travel, contributed to low risk perceptions and poor PTA uptake. These findings support previous research [ 9 ], and highlight students' low risk perceptions and underestimation of the potential for travel-related illness or injury [ 5 , 8 , 10 ]. It is important for travel medicine practitioners to recognise when there is a disconnect between students’ risk perception and the actual risk for a trip, and use this to increase awareness of travel-associated morbidity and highlight gaps in vaccination coverage and the potential for waning immunity, particularly amongst VFR travellers.…”

“…Previous research shows that students believe travel-related health risks to be low and they under-utilise travel health services [ 5 , [8] , [9] , [10] , 22 ]. In order to develop actionable recommendations for increasing PTA uptake by students, we used a qualitative approach to explore university students' perceptions of travel-related health risks and pre-travel health seeking attitudes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Missed childhood vaccinations or a false sense of natural immunity, particularly amongst those born in lower-income settings, may increase susceptibility to infection [ 6 , 7 ]. Low rates of seeking or adhering to pre-travel advice (PTA) [ 5 , 8 ], often ascribed to lack of awareness of health risks and low risk perception, results in suboptimal uptake of preventive measures which further contributes to the potential for infectious disease acquisition [ 9 , 10 ]. Among students who do seek PTA, a substantial proportion utilise information sources unlikely to provide sufficient, tailored information, such as the internet or family and friends [ 11 ].…”

University students’ travel risk perceptions and risk-taking willingness during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

“…The risk of travel-related illness can potentially be reduced by professional pre-travel advice (PTA) which provides relevant education regarding risk avoidance measures [ 8 ]. However, students have lower rates of PTA engagement and adherence than other travellers [ 9 , 10 ] which potentially contributes to increased travel-related morbidity. Engaging in health behaviours such as seeking PTA requires an intention to act [ 11 ].…”

Investigating fever in the returning tropical traveller

“…This group is four times more likely than tourists to contract malaria and is less likely to have taken precautions against mosquito bites, is less likely to seek health advice prior to travel and take chemoprophylaxis (Jensenius et al., 2013; Keystone, 2019). However, malaria should still be ruled out in febrile patients with a history of travel to regions where malaria is endemic despite use of chemoprophylaxis, bed nets and insect repellent, as compliance is often poor (Fhogartaigh et al., 2012).…”