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Review
. 2020 Aug;32(3):407-425.
doi: 10.1016/j.coms.2020.05.001. Epub 2020 May 8.

Travel/Tropical Medicine and Pandemic Considerations for the Global Surgeon

Affiliations
Review

Travel/Tropical Medicine and Pandemic Considerations for the Global Surgeon

Christian Sandrock et al. Oral Maxillofac Surg Clin North Am. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

International travel goes hand in hand with medical delivery to underserved communities. The global health care worker can be exposed to a wide range of infectious diseases during their global experiences. A pretravel risk assessment visit and all appropriate vaccinations and education must be performed. Universal practices of water safety, food safety, and insect avoidance will prevent most travel-related infections and complications. Region-specific vaccinations will further reduce illness risk. An understanding of common travel-related illness signs and symptoms is helpful. Emerging pathogens that can cause a pandemic should be understood to avoid health care worker infection and spread.

Keywords: Encephalitis; Food-borne illness; Pandemic; Preparation for global surgery; Public health; Tick-borne illness; Travel medicine; Tropical medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors have nothing to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Approach to early isolation, testing, and involvement of institutional infection control and public health in cases of acute febrile illness in a returning HCW. ICU, intensive care unit.

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