Travel-related health problems in travellers admitted at the University Centre of Maritime and Tropical Medicine in Poland, 2023

Abstract

Background: The world has now reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic and a lot of countries have witnessed a sudden rise in the number of international tourist arrivals. Asia, Africa, Latin and South Americas have once again become the destination of choice for millions of visitors from high-income countries. Meta-analyses show that 43–79% of international travellers develop a travel-related health problems during or after journey. The aim of the present study was to analyse travel-related morbidity in travellers hospitalized at the University Centre of Maritime and Tropical Medicine in Gdynia, Poland. Material and methods: This retrospective study was based on the analysis of medical records of 159 Polish patients hospitalized at the Department of Tropical and Parasitic Diseases between January and December 2023. Patients’ age, sex, continents and countries visited, activities undertaken during travel, and risk behaviours were analysed. The aetiology was established for only 79 cases on the basis of reported clinical symptoms, diagnostic tests and the analysis of the available medical records. Due to limited diagnostics, the aetiological factor could not be determined in 80 patients. Results: Individuals with travel-related problems accounted for only 14.6% of all patients treated at the Department of Tropical and Parasitic Diseases (159/1087) in the analyzed period. Among the patients with travel-related conditions, most travelled to Africa (49.1%) and Asia (28.3%); the mean age of those patients was 41.7 years. Sunbathing (52.2%), scuba diving (17.6%), and safari (17.0%) were the most popular activities among the patients involved in the study; local food consumption (30.8%) was the most frequently reported risk behaviour. The most common causes for hospitalization included gastrointestinal (39.6%) and skin diseases (19.5%), fevers of unknown origin (13.2%), respiratory diseases (12.6%) and vector-borne diseases of established aetiology (10.1%). Due to limited diagnostic possibilities, the aetiological factor could not be determined in 74.6% patients with gastrointestinal diseases, 50% patients with genitourinary and 30% patients with respiratory diseases. Conclusions: Despite having been granted the status of the national reference centre for tropical medicine, the University Centre for Maritime and Tropical Medicine with the Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine (two institutions located in the same complex) do not have the capacity for comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of ill travellers returning from tropical destinations, which is primarily associated with the dispersion of patients presenting with travel-related conditions across different infectious diseases departments in Poland. Given an increasing number of travellers to tropical destinations and a prospective increase in the number of imported travel-related infections, it is necessary to provide more financial support to the national reference centre for tropical medicine as its role is not only to provide diagnostics and treatment of imported cases of tropical and parasitic diseases but also to supervise all other institutions in Poland which offer such medical services.