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Characteristics and Spectrum of Disease Among Ill Returned Travelers from Pre- and Post-Earthquake Haiti: The GeoSentinel Experience

2012; American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Volume: 86; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0430

1476-1645

Douglas H. Esposito, Pauline Han, Phyllis E. Kozarsky, Patricia F. Walker, Effrossyni Gkrania‐Klotsas, Elizabeth D. Barnett, Michael Libman, Anne McCarthy, Vanessa Field, Bradley A. Connor, Eli Schwartz, Susan MacDonald, Mark J. Sotir, Brian J. Ward, J. Dick MacLean, L Loutan, François Chappuis, William M. Stauffer, John D. Cahill, George McKinley, Carmelo Licitra, Antonio Sampietro Crespo, Jessica K. Fairley, Carlos Franco‐Paredes, Éric Caumes, A. Pérignon, Jay S. Keystone, Kevin C. Kain, Noreen A. Hynes, R. Bradley Sack, Robin McKenzie, Frank von Sonnenburg, Christina Coyle, Murray Wittner, David O. Freedman, Gerd Burchard, C. Rapp, Olivier Aoun, N. Jean Haulman, David Roesel, Elaine C. Jong, Peter de Vries, Kartini Gadroen, Lin H. Chen, Cecilia Perret, Marc Mendelson, Peter Vincent, Michael Lynch, Shuzo Kanagawa, Yasuyuki Kato, De Von C. Hale, Rahul Anand, Stefanie S. Gelman,

Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research

To describe patient characteristics and disease spectrum among foreign visitors to Haiti before and after the 2010 earthquake, we used GeoSentinel Global Surveillance Network data and compared 1 year post-earthquake versus 3 years pre-earthquake. Post-earthquake travelers were younger, predominantly from the United States, more frequently international assistance workers, and more often medically counseled before their trip than pre-earthquake travelers. Work-related stress and upper respiratory tract infections were more frequent post-earthquake; acute diarrhea, dengue, and Plasmodium falciparum malaria were important contributors of morbidity both pre- and post-earthquake. These data highlight the importance of providing destination- and disaster-specific pre-travel counseling and post-travel evaluation and medical management to persons traveling to or returning from a disaster location, and evaluations should include attention to the psychological wellbeing of these travelers. For travel to Haiti, focus should be on mosquito-borne illnesses (dengue and P. falciparum malaria) and travelers' diarrhea.