Infectious disease risk low priority for Australian travellers

New research led by the University of Sydney’s Family Medicine Research Centre reveals many Australians are inadequately protecting against potentially serious infectious diseases before travelling abroad. Researchers found more than one-in-two (57 percent) of those surveyed did not seek pre-travel health advice prior to international travel, despite having travelled to an at-risk destination for contracting at least one of the travel-related infectious diseases included in the study. The stud, conducted between May and June 2012 in collaboration with CSL, involved 100 GPs nationwide who surveyed 2934 patients to analyse international travel patterns, travel health behaviours and pre-travel vaccination rates among Australian travellers in a general practice setting. Christopher Harrison, senior research analyst from the Family Medicine Research Centre, who led the research, says the results indicate many Australian travellers may be failing to avoid unnecessary health risks while travelling abroad. “A low proportion of respondents were fully vaccinated before travelling to an at-risk destination...