Characteristics and spectrum of disease among ill returned travelers from pre- and post-earthquake Haiti: The GeoSentinel experience.
To describe patient characteristics and disease spectrum among foreign visitors to Haiti before and after the 2010 earthquake, we used GeoSentinel Global Surveillance Network data and compared 1 year post-earthquake versus 3 years pre-earthquake. Post-earthquake travelers were younger, predominantly from the United States, more frequently international assistance workers, and more often medically counseled before their trip than pre-earthquake travelers. Work-related stress and upper respiratory tract infections were more frequent post-earthquake; acute diarrhea, dengue, and Plasmodium falciparum malaria were important contributors of morbidity both pre- and post-earthquake. These data highlight the importance of providing destination- and disaster-specific pre-travel counseling and post-travel evaluation and medical management to persons traveling to or returning from a disaster location, and evaluations should include attention to the psychological wellbeing of these travelers. For travel to Haiti, focus should be on mosquito-borne illnesses (dengue and P. falciparum malaria) and travelers' diarrhea.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. desposito@cdc.gov
Douglas H
DH
Esposito
Pauline V
PV
Han
Phyllis E
PE
Kozarsky
Patricia F
PF
Walker
Effrossyni
E
Gkrania-Klotsas
Elizabeth D
ED
Barnett
Michael
M
Libman
Anne E
AE
McCarthy
Vanessa
V
Field
Bradley A
BA
Connor
Eli
E
Schwartz
Susan
S
MacDonald
Mark J
MJ
Sotir
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006205:Haiti; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D014195:Travel; D055815:Young Adult