Public Health Importance of Emporiatrics: A Review

Abstract

People travel all around the world to explore, trade, sojourn, etc. Millions of individuals cross national and international borders. Travel medicine services are offered by general practitioners, specialized travel clinics, or immunization centers. Epidemiology, illness prevention, and travel-related self-treatment are all included in the interdisciplinary field of travel medicine. The main objective is to keep travelers alive and in good health, by reducing the effects of illness and accidents through preventative measures and self-care. The danger to a traveler's health and well-being must be understood, and the travel medicine practitioner's job is to help their patient or client recognize and manage those risks. The absence of any disease or symptom does not always indicate good health. Chronic illness sufferers, including those with cancer, diabetes, and hypertension, can maintain a reasonable level of health and mobility. Travel medicine is a rapidly developing, extremely dynamic, multidisciplinary field that calls for knowledge of a range of travel-related illnesses as well as current information on the global epidemiology of infectious and non-infectious health risks, immunization laws and requirements around the world, and the shifting trends in drug-resistant infections. Pre-travel consultation aims to reduce the traveler's risk of disease and harm while on the road through preventive counseling, education, recommended drugs, and essential vaccines. Specialized medical guidance can help reduce the potential health risks of travel. Emporiatrics is not only used for traveling advice or things to be done during the period of the journey but it also creates room in implementing the interdisciplinary subject with new methods or development of new policies, technologies, and various programs to reduce unnecessary problems of the travelers, which will boost tourism.

Keywords: emporiatrics; mental health issues; pre-travel consultation; travel advice; travel guidelines; travel health; travel medicine; vaccines.

Figure 1. Classification of travelers

Immigrant VFRs consist of immigrants who are visiting friends and family back in their place of origin. These travelers contact more travel-related illnesses, require hospitalization for these illnesses more frequently, and seek less pre-travel medical advice; Traveler VFRs consist of travelers who are not originally immigrants but are going back for the visit; Tourism, education, or employment travelers comprise people who travel for business, pleasure, education, or employment. These travelers frequently seek more pre-trip medical advice, experience fewer travel-related illnesses, and infrequently need hospitalization following their journey. VFRs: visiting friends and relatives Image source: Author

Figure 2. Pre-travel consultation triad

Image source: Author