A Systematic Review on Travel Medicine Practice to Control Transmission of Communicable Diseases

Background: The number of international travelers is estimated at 900 million per year and is projected to reach 1.6 billion per year in 2020. Travel medicine is devoted to the health of travelers who visit foreign countries. It is an interdisciplinary specialty con­cerned not only with prevention of communicable diseases during travel but also with the personal safety of travelers and the avoidance of environmental risks. This stu­dy aimed to review systematically the travel medicine practice to control trans­mi­sion of commu­ni­cable diseases. Subjects and Method: A systematic review was conducted by collecting several stu­dies that examin­ed travels medicine practice related to the spread of communicable di­sease. A total of 11 articles was selected for this study. The data were analyzed using nar­rative synthesis and a re­view of travel medicine practice. Results: Travel medicine practice was related to effective anticipation of com­mu­nicable di­sea­ses including pre-travel health advice service, guideline, vaccina­tion, and post-trip care. These practices could not be underestimated because virus and disease could easily spread when the tou­rists were not fit and exhausted during the trip. It was nece­s­sa­­ry for tourists to anticipate the spread of disease by knowing certain disease in the country and to have them vaccinated be­fore traveling. Conclusion: Travel medicine practice has a significant impact on disease transmiss­ion anti­ci­pa­tion among travellers/ tourists. Keywords: travel medicine practice, communicable disease spread, tourist