Journal of travel medicine
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: To provide medical kit recommendations for short mountain wilderness recreation trips (hiking, trekking, backpacking, mountaineering etc.) based on the epidemiology of injury and illness sustained and best treatment guidelines. Additionally, to compare these recommendations to the medical kit contents of mountain climbers in Colorado. ⋯ : Mountain climbing epidemiology and current clinical guidelines suggest that a basic mountain medical kit should include items for body substance isolation, materials for immobilization, pain medications, wound care supplies, and medications for gastrointestinal upset and flu-like illness. The medical kits of Colorado mountain climbers varied considerable and often lacked essential items such as medical gloves. This suggests a need for increased guidance. Similar methodology could be used to inform medical kits for other outdoor activities, mountain rescue personnel, and travel to areas with limited formal medical care.
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Morbidity among the Israeli Defense Force response team during Nepal, post-earthquake mission, 2015.
On 25 April 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. Soon after, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) dispatched a rapid-response team and opened a tertiary field hospital in Kathmandu. There is limited data regarding the spectrum of diseases among rescue teams to disease-stricken areas. The aim of this study was to assess the morbidity among the field-hospital staff during the mission. ⋯ The Israeli field hospital was a stand-alone facility, yet 53% of its' staff suffered from GI complaints. Prevention of morbidity and specifically of GI complaints upon arrival to a disaster-stricken area in a developing country is difficult. Medical teams in such missions should be acquainted with treating GI complaints.
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Since the number of air travellers, including the elderly and passengers with an underlying disease, is increasing every year, the number of inflight emergency patients is expected to increase as well. We attempted to identify the incidence and types of reported inflight medical incidents and analyse the first aid performed by cabin crew members or medical volunteers in flights by an Asian airline. We also investigated the cases of inflight deaths and aircraft diversions. ⋯ : Since burns were one of the common reasons that first aid was provided by the cabin crew, it may be necessary to include first aid treatments for burns in the annual re-qualification training programme. Furthermore, the assessment of unconsciousness and potentially critical respiratory symptoms is very important for cabin crew members because those conditions can lead to inflight deaths and aircraft diversion.
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Influenza viruses are among the major causes of serious human respiratory tract infection worldwide. In line with the high disease burden attributable to influenza, these viruses play an important, but often neglected, role in travel medicine. Guidelines and recommendations regarding prevention and management of influenza in travellers are scarce. Of special interest for travel medicine are risk populations and also circumstances that facilitate influenza virus transmission and spread, like travel by airplane or cruise ship and mass gatherings. ⋯ Pre-travel advice should address influenza and its prevention for travellers, whenever appropriate on the basis of the epidemiological situation concerned. Preventative measures should be strongly recommended for travellers at high-risk for developing complications. In addition, seasonal influenza vaccination should be considered for any traveller wishing to reduce the risk of incapacitation, particularly cruise ship crew and passengers, as well as those participating in mass gatherings. Besides advice concerning preventive measures and vaccination, advice on the use of antivirals may be considered for some travellers.
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This case report describes the second reported case of gnathostomiasis acquired in Brazil. The French traveller returned from a sport fishing trip from Tocantins where he was repeatedly consuming raw freshwater fish marinated with lemon juice. Gnathostoma infection was diagnosed based on clinical symptoms, dietary record and by detection of specific antibodies in the blood.