Travellers' Health & Vaccination Clinic (THVC)
Level 1, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Main Entrance)
Tel: 6357 2222
Fax: 6352 5661
Email:
HEC@ttsh.com.sg
View Map
Monday to Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday & Public Holiday: |
8am to 1pm, 2pm to 5pm
8am to 12pm
Closed |
To enhance the health of travellers by providing expert travel health services with excellence.
Link to Health Enrichment Centre
1. Illness in long-term travelers visiting GeoSentinel clinics (link)
Length of travel appears to be associated with health risks. GeoSentinel Surveillance Network data for 4,039 long-term travelers (trip duration >6 months) seen after travel during June 1, 1996, through December 31, 2008, were compared with data for 24,807 short-term travelers (trip duration (1 month). Long-term travelers traveled more often than short-term travelers for volunteer activities (39.7% vs. 7.0%) and business (25.2% vs. 13.8%). More long-term travelers were men (57.2% vs. 50.1%) and expatriates (54.0% vs. 8.9%); most had pretravel medical advice (70.3% vs. 48.9%). Per 1,000 travelers, long-term travelers more often experienced chronic diarrhea, giardiasis, Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria, irritable bowel syndrome (postinfectious), fatigue >1 month, eosinophilia, cutaneous leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, and Entamoeba histolytica diarrhea. Areas of concern for long-term travelers were vector-borne diseases, contact-transmitted diseases, and psychological problems. Our results can help prioritize screening for and diagnosis of illness in long-term travelers and provide evidence-based pretravel advice.
2. Health risks in travelers to China: the GeoSentinel experience and implications for the 2008 Beijing Olympics (link)
Selected data collected for travelers to China from 1998 through November 2007 by the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network were used to provide an evidence base for prioritizing recommendations for Olympic and other future travelers to China. Respiratory illness and injuries were common among patients seen during their travel; acute diarrhea and dog bites were common among those seen after travel. Tropical and parasitic diseases were rare. Pre-travel consultation for China travelers should be individualized according to these findings.
3. Serologic response to rabies pre-exposure vaccination in persons with potential
occupational exposure in Singapore (link)
Sixty-six animal workers received primary rabies vaccination with purified Vero cell vaccine (PVRV, Verorab). One year later, 26 (39%) demonstrated antibody titers below the recommended minimum of 0.5IU/ml, and required a booster. All 15 of a separate group reporting primary vaccination with at least one booster had titers above 0.5IU/ml 1 year later, demonstrating long-term boostable immunity. Rabies antibody titers should be checked 1 year after primary rabies vaccination in persons at high risk of frequent rabies exposure. If access to serological surveillance is unavailable, such high-risk individuals should receive booster vaccination.
4. Chikungunya in Singapore: Imported Cases Among Travelers
Visiting Friends and Relatives (link)
Chikungunya infections were detected in Singapore among returning travelers who had visited friends and relatives (VFR) in India and Malaysia. These sporadic imported cases occurred over a year before the 2008 chikungunya outbreaks in Singapore, demonstrating the potential for introducing this emerging viral infection into new areas via VFR travel.
5. Imported Chloroquine-Resistant Plasmodium vivax in Singapore: Case Report and Literature Review (link)
Chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium vivax (CRPV) infection is emerging as a clinically significant problem. Detailed travel history is crucial to the management of imported malarial cases. We report a 58-year-old business traveler who returned from Indonesia and experienced relapse due to CRPV. The epidemiology and diagnostic challenges of CRPV for travel medicine clinicians are reviewed.
6. Epidemiology of Travel-associated Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Infection in 116 Patients, Singapore (link)
In June 2009, during Singapore's pandemic influenza plan containment phase, pandemic (H1N1) 2009 was introduced into the country through imported cases. To understand how travel patterns affected the initial outbreak, we examined epidemiologic and travel data for the first 116 case-patients admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, with travel-associated infection. Sixty-one percent and 54% of patients, respectively, met US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization temperature criteria for influenza-like illness. One fourth of the case-patients traveled after illness onset, and 15% became ill while traveling. Regions of exposure for imported infections changed rapidly; case-patients initially arrived from North America, followed by Australasia and Southeast Asia. Case-patients on longer flights were more likely to become ill before arrival; those with shorter flights tended to become ill after arrival. Thermal scanners detected fevers in 12% of the arriving case-patients, resulting in a shorter time to isolation.
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Name :
Dr. LIM Poh Lian
Designation :
Head - THVC, Senior Consultant Credentials :
BA (Harvard), MD (Columbia), MPH (Tulane),
FFTM RCPS (Glasg), FAMS (Singapore),
US Board certified (Inf Dis, Int Med) |
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