title: Pediatric travelers visiting friends and relatives (VFR) abroad: illnesses, barriers and pre-travel recommendations.
abstract: Global mobility has shown a steady rise in recent years, with increased immigration and international travel. The VFR traveler is a traveler whose primary purpose of travel is to visit friends and relatives (VFR), where there is a gradient of risk between home and destination. Children are more likely to be VFR travelers than adults. Pediatric VFR travelers have higher risks for certain infectious travel-related illnesses and face multiple barriers in receiving comprehensive pre-travel care. This review focuses on the current state of knowledge of the pediatric VFR traveler, including epidemiological risks, barriers to adequate pre-travel services, and specific recommendations for disease prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Travel Medicine, HealthPartners Regions Hospital, 640 Jackson Street, St. Paul, MN 55101, USA. bhendel1@gmail.com
authors.forename: Brett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hendel-Paterson
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Swanson
mesh_terms: D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods*; D006287:Health Planning Guidelines; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods*; D014195:Travel