IAMAT |International Association of Medical Assistance to Travellers| IAMAT |International Association of Medical Assistance to Travellers|

Travel Health Journal

Hand with bandaged finger. Photo by FreeImages.com/Linden Laserna

Keep it clean! Preventing skin and soft tissue infections

What are skin and soft tissue infections? Keeping cuts and scrapes clean is always important, but especially so when you’re travelling. As Dr. Erik McLaughlin explains in our tip sheet on assembling the perfect travel first aid kit, band-aids and antibiotic ointment are essential first aid supplies. Skin infections are usually caused by bacteria entering and growing in a break in the skin. They’re common in travellers due to insect bites and minor trauma like cuts, blisters, scrapes, and abrasions. These infections can range from a small infection in a specific part of the skin (localized infection), like a pimple, to larger, more painful infections, such as an abscess. Antibiotic-resistant infections Some skin infections are resistant to antibiotics. Methicillin-resistant ...

Angeline telling her colleagues about IAMAT at UTMB.

From Egypt to China: Scholars hone travel health knowledge

Exploring travel medicine and global health Cross-cultural experience is invaluable for travel medicine practitioners. Three of our scholars recently had the opportunity to hone their knowledge and skills with travel health experts in South Africa and the USA. Ahmad Mosad Ibraheem of Mansoura, Egypt attended a 5-day course in Johannesburg with the South African Society of Travel Medicine (SASTM). Meng Jing (Angeline) of Chengdu, China and Liu Chunfang (Kathleen), of Shenzhen, China spent 8 weeks studying tropical medicine and global health at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. Angeline and Kathleen currently practise travel medicine, while Ahmad is planning to introduce it into his practice. After they recovered from jet lag, we caught up with ...

Pilgrims in Mecca.

Countdown to a healthy Hajj

Travelling for Hajj A pilgrimage to Mecca for Hajj is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. Over 2 million Muslims from all over the world performed Hajj in 2015, making it one of the largest mass travel events in the world. Pilgrims performing Hajj will be travelling for a relatively long time in crowded places (travel agents offer packages lasting about 3 weeks). The crowds create an environment where illnesses can quickly pass from person to person. This raises some unique health risks, in addition to special vaccination requirements which only apply to pilgrims during the Hajj season. Specific health issues Meningococcal Meningitis, Polio, and Yellow Fever All Hajj pilgrims to Mecca must show proof of vaccination against Meningococcal ...

Meet IAMAT President Assunta Uffer-Marcolongo.

Meet Assunta: Travel is about tolerance, compassion, and kindness

IAMAT President Assunta Uffer-Marcolongo has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share when it comes to travel health. She’s spent many years guiding IAMAT’s work and travel health has dramatically evolved over that time. We asked Assunta to share some of her insights on the world of travel medicine and her personal travel experiences. How did you become involved in IAMAT? After Commercial High School and training as a nurse in Switzerland, I came to Canada where I met Dr. Vincenzo Marcolongo in 1970. He asked me to work for IAMAT. I become involved not just in the management of the organization but also helped develop the first World Immunization Chart and World Malaria Risk Chart, the world’s ...

IAMAT scholars Angeline, Ahmad, and Kathleen

Say hello to our newest travel medicine scholars!

Meet Angeline and Kathleen We’re pleased to introduce our 2016 travel medicine scholars! Dr. Meng Jing (Angeline) of Chengdu, China and Dr. Liu Chunfang (Kathleen) of Shenzhen, China will be studying and training with Professor Lynn Soong at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. Both Angeline and Kathleen work at international travel healthcare centres providing pre- and post-travel services to travellers, students, and workers. The 8-week course in tropical medicine, travel medicine, and global health begins this week. Angeline and Kathleen will have the opportunity to learn about complex global health challenges through clinical and laboratory observations and in-depth discussions with other health profession students and physicians. This is the second year that UTMB has ...

An elephant drinking water

Travel medicine practitioners: Join us in South Africa!

Travel Health Africa We’re pleased to announce that we will be attending “Travel Health Africa: The Boiling Point?” in South Africa in September! This is a regional conference of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) which also hosts the South African Society of Travel Medicine’s Biennial Congress (SASTM). We’ll have a booth in the exhibitors’ hall where we’ll be meeting practitioners, sharing resources like our Guide to Travel Health Insurance, and talking to prospective IAMAT scholars. To date, we’ve awarded three scholarships for African health practitioners to study and train in travel medicine with SASTM. The conference will take place in Port Elizabeth. Here are a few of the topics that will be covered in the plenary sessions, ...

A pile of tires. Photo by FreeImages.com/RonalSchuster

Dengue: Innovative solutions to a global health issue

Compared to other diseases whose flare-ups have captivated the media, Dengue is a slow burn. In 1970, only 9 countries experienced severe epidemics of Dengue, but today the virus circulates continuously (endemic) in over 100 countries – including parts of Africa, the Americas, the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific. Mild cases often go unnoticed or unreported, so it’s difficult to estimate the number of people affected, but one study suggests that 390 million infections occur each year. The Dengue virus Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by daytime biting female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. Many people who are infected are asymptomatic, meaning they don’t have any symptoms, while others have flu-like symptoms with fever, rash, ...

Survey photo by Yarranz

Your two cents: 2016 Member Communications Survey

Do you have a great idea for our eNewsletter or a suggestion to improve how we communicate with you? Have your say in our 2016 Member Communications Survey! Your responses will help us better tailor our communications to your interests, destinations, and activities. The survey is anonymous and takes about 8 minutes to complete. It gives you the opportunity to tell us about where you travel, what types of activities you participate in, which IAMAT publications are most useful to you, and which topics you’d like us to cover in future. Your feedback helps us give you more value for your membership. Members who complete the survey will be eligible to enter a draw for a $50 gift certificate ...

By James Gathany (PHIL, CDC) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Chikungunya and Zika: Let’s talk about mosquitoes

UPDATE: March 31, 2016. This post has been updated with new information about Zika Virus. Travelling south to escape the winter blues? Travellers planning a sun vacation are contacting us wondering about the risk of Zika and Chikungunya. Currently, countries in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America are reporting cases. Understanding mosquito behaviour and brushing up on your mosquito bite prevention skills are two ways to reduce your risk so that you can enjoy your holiday. 6 things you should know about Chikungunya and Zika Both viruses are primarily transmitted by daytime biting Aedes aegypti  female mosquitoes. There are no preventive vaccines or medications; treatment includes supportive care of symptoms. The illnesses are usually self-limiting – they typically run their ...

Photo by Judith Purcell

Comment: What’s your health footprint?

A trio of tropical diseases In November, the news website Vox published a fascinating story: Travel writer Henry Wismayer’s personal experience of getting typhoid, dengue, and schistosomiasis in the same year. His story piqued our interest – after all, one of our goals is to prevent these illnesses in travellers. Here’s a summary of the story, although we encourage you to read the full article on Vox. While travelling in Uttarakhand, India, Wismayer fell ill with typhoid but recovered with rest and treatment with antibiotics. A few weeks later in Hue, Vietnam, he came down with a severe bout of dengue fever and was hospitalized for two weeks. (If you’ve ever doubted the importance of preventing mosquito bites, Wismayer’s ...