Browsing by Author "Walker, Patricia F."

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    Characteristics and spectrum of disease among ill returned travelers from pre- and post-earthquake Haiti: The geosentinel experience
    (2012) Esposito, Douglas H.; Han, Pauline V.; Kozarsky, Phyllis E.; Walker, Patricia F.; Patricia F. Walker,; Gkrania-Klotsas, Effrossyni; Barnett, Elizabeth D.; Libman, Michael; McCarthy, Anne E.; Field, Vanessa; Connor, Bradley A.; Schwartz, Eli; MacDonald, Susan; Sotir, Mark J.; Perret Pérez. Cecilia; GeoSentinel Surveillance Network
    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.