The travel bug

With international travels increasing considerably, there exists a worrying lack of awareness within travellers with regards to vaccinations. As swine flu grows from a few worrying cases into a pandemic, a recent briefing into travel vaccines passed on the experts' concerns...

The ease of travel in the current age has been blamed as a significant reason behind the spread of swine flu (H1N1) as it moved from the first reported cases to pandemic in just five weeks. Despite the global recession that has seemed to affect businesses and individuals globally, and in the UK, there were 68 million trips made abroad by UK residents in the last 12 months.

Worryingly, however, are the results of a TNS survey, showcased in a travel health briefing held in part with Novartis Vaccines, that one in four travellers questioned had no vaccination at all despite travelling to locations where it was required. Of the 334 questioned – of which 110 had visited Asia, 110 had visited Africa and 111 had visited Middle East – 63 per cent spent only half and hour thinking about protecting their health while travelling.

Commenting on the findings, Carol Fraser, representing TNS who carried out the survey, said it was worrying how only one in ten would leave their luggage unprotected but one in four were leaving their health unprotected. She also added that 25 per cent of travellers failed to seek any health advice prior to their travels, thus making themselves more vulnerable to falling ill when abroad.

'What was more surprising that of the 75 per cent that sough medical advice, 7.5 per cent did have the vaccinations that they were advised and a third of those said they were prepared to take the risk,' Fraser added.

According to Dr Richard Dawood, medical director of the Fleet Street Clinic, people were taking advantage of the economic climate and travelling while between jobs or a career change.

'There is a lot of travelling going on right now, especially to exotic locations in Asia and Africa,' Dawood said. 'Travel to Asia has increased three folds in the last 18 years while travel to Africa has doubled in the same period and travel times are less than the incubation period of most diseases.

'Holiday-makers will spend hours choosing their swim-wear or their beach bags or even their flip-flops, but barely minutes thinking about the viruses, bacteria, or other health information and advice that could ruin their trip, or even kill or cripple them. It is therefore advisable for travellers to obtain good health information and advice for each trip from a reliable source.'

The briefing carried a general consensus that a lot more was required by all concerned parties in order to increase public awareness.

The figures speak...
Nearly two-thirds (62%) were holiday-makers while 23% were visiting friends and relatives and 15% were travelling on business.
63% spent less than half and hour thinking about protecting their health and only 3% spent half a day.
25% were no vaccinated against any disease
25% fail to seek any medical advice prior to their travels
Of those that sought advice, 7.5% vaccination that they were advised
Despite 98% being aware of Meningitis, only 16% of those travelling to Africa – known as the Meningitis Belt – were immunised against Meningitis
51% of those visiting Asia were travelling to its rural areas but 34% were unaware of the vaccinations recommended for those areas
TNS survey, 334 respondents

Novartis' H1N1 vaccine production
Novartis has successfully completed the production of the first batch of influenza A(H1N1) vaccine. This vaccine monobulk will be used for pre-clinical evaluation and testing and is also being considered for use in clinical trials. More than 30 governments have made requests to Novartis to supply them with influenza vaccine ingredients.

© Faras Ghani 2009
Published in Pharmacy Business July 2009