title: Post-Travel Consultations in a Regional Hub City Hospital, Japan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To clarify the characteristics of post-travel consultation services in Japan, particularly in the provinces, we analyzed our post-travel patients in the travel clinic of Kurume University Hospital located in Kurume City (a regional hub City in southwestern Japan).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty post-travel patients visited our clinic between April 2008 and October 2014 and participated in this study: 55 were Japanese and five were foreign. We summarized and compared the characteristics of the patients after dividing the Japanese participants into long-term travelers (>14 days) and short-term travelers (≤14 days). The foreign travelers were described in a separate analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 55 Japanese travelers, the mean age (± standard deviation) was 37.3 ± 16.3 years, and 36 patients (65%) were men. Southeast Asia was the major destination (30/55, 55%), and business was stated as the major reason for travel (16/55, 29%). Post-exposure rabies prophylaxis (16/55, 29%) was the most common purpose for the consultations. There were 34 participants (62%) who were classified as short-term travelers. Fewer of the short-term travelers stated receiving pre-travel consultations compared with long-term travelers (11% vs. 79%, p=0.0002). The five foreign travelers included one dengue fever patient and two malaria patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most post-travel Japanese patients visited our clinic were short-term travelers who had not received any pre-travel consultation. One of the most common complaints, post-exposure rabies prophylaxis, could have been avoided to some extent by appropriate pre-travel consultations. The results of this study suggest that pre-travel consultations should therefore be encouraged for both long- and short-term travelers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yaita
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iwahashi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Masunaga
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017780:Malaria Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056990:Post-Exposure Prophylaxis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011819:Rabies Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D014195:Travel
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D017780:Malaria Vaccines; D011819:Rabies Vaccines