Characteristics and preparation of the last-minute traveler: analysis of vaccine usage in the Global TravEpiNet Consortium

• Published in: Journal of Travel Medicine 2019-09, Vol.26 (6)
• Main Authors: Yates, Johnnie A, Rao, Sowmya R, Walker, Allison Taylor, Esposito, Douglas H, Sotir, Mark, LaRocque, Regina C, Ryan, Edward T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Consortia; Encephalitis; Female; Health care; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Immunization; Male; Middle Aged; Morbidity; Original; Rabies; Schedules; Time Factors; Travel; Travel - statistics & numerical data; Travel Medicine - methods; Travel Medicine - statistics & numerical data; Travellers; United States; Urban areas; Vaccines; Vaccines - immunology; Vaccines - standards; Vector-borne diseases; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1195-1982; 1708-8305
• DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taz031

Last-minute travellers (LMTs) present challenges for health care providers because they may have insufficient time for recommended vaccinations or pre-travel preparation. Our objective was to obtain a better understanding of LMTs in order to help travel medicine providers develop improved strategies to decrease the number of LMTs and potentially reduce travel-related morbidity. We defined LMTs as travellers with a departure date of 7 days or fewer from the medical encounter. We analysed the characteristics and health preparation of 12 494 LMTs who presented to a network of US clinical practices for pre-travel health advice between January 2009 and December 2015. LMTs comprised 16% of all travellers. More LMTs than non-LMTs travelled for business or to visit friends and relatives (VFR) (26% vs 16% and 15% vs 8%, respectively; P