Travel medicine — up to speed

The World Health Organization has a measure of credibility when it comes to producing a book called International travel and health. Although this book is updated annually, in some years the most significant difference has seemed to be the change of colour to the stripe on the cover. The 2002 edition, though, is different!

The book has almost doubled in size, the cover has changed from the traditional yellow to a modern teal and, most significantly, there has been a change in the content. The claim on the cover of “abundant new material” is true. The list of acknowledgements reads like a “who’s who” of travel medicine and their input has made the book up to date and value for money.

A diverse range of travel medicine topics are dealt with, from the traditional to the more unusual. Vaccinations, malaria, medical kits, altitude, deep vein thrombosis, jetlag, flight phobia, stings, worms, drownings, traffic accidents, muggings, travelling when pregnant, or with pre-existing medical conditions, and even risks from aircraft disinfection, ozone and cosmic radiation, are all dealt with. There is a particularly useful reference section summarising aspects of the infectious diseases that pose risks to travellers.

The book is organised logically with an extensive table of contents, index, excellent headings, and plenty of tables. The 12 maps in the centre give an excellent overview of the extent of various diseases in 2001 (eg, Japanese encephalitis, dengue, yellow fever, malaria, hepatitis A, B and C, rabies. The popular “Country List” remains — it outlines the current vaccination requirements and malaria situation for each country. This has limited value given the static nature of the publication, but takes up only 26 pages in a publication of 180 pages, so it does not detract too much from its general usefulness.

This 2002 edition is a great leap forward!

Deborah J MillsMedical Director Travel Medicine and Vaccination Clinic, Brisbane, QLD