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. 2010 Jun;82(6):991-5.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2010.10-0198.

Health risks in travelers to South Africa: the GeoSentinel experience and implications for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Marc Mendelson  1 , Xiaohong M Davis, Mogens Jensenius, Jay S Keystone, Frank von Sonnenburg, Devon C Hale, Gerd-Dieter Burchard, Vanessa Field, Peter Vincent, David O Freedman; GeoSentinel Surveillance Network
Collaborators, Affiliations

Health risks in travelers to South Africa: the GeoSentinel experience and implications for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Marc Mendelson et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2010 Jun.

Abstract

Using the GeoSentinel database, an analysis of ill patients returning from throughout sub-Saharan Africa over a 13-year period was performed. Systemic febrile illness, dermatologic, and acute diarrheal illness were the most common syndromic groupings, whereas spotted fever group rickettsiosis was the most common individual diagnosis for travelers to South Africa. In contrast to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, only six cases of malaria were documented in South Africa travelers. Vaccine-preventable diseases, typhoid, hepatitis A, and potential rabies exposures were uncommon in South Africa travelers. Pre-travel advice for the travelers to the 2010 World Cup should be individualized according to these findings.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Statement of independence of researchers from Funders GeoSentinel is funded by CDC with a cooperative agreement to ISTM, which runs GeoSentinel. GeoSentinel has an independent Data Use and Publication Committee, which oversees studies from concept sheet to final manuscript and is made up of 5 Site Directors outside of CDC. A GeoSentinel paper that has a CDC author also goes through CDC clearance and any discrepancies are ironed out between GeoSentinel and CDC.

References

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