Brianna Schow

Research Article Summary

Post-Travel Skin Infections

One of the most common reasons people visit their doctor when they return from
vacation is for infectious skin disorders. Increasing the length of the vacation increases the risk
of being infected. Thirty-one percent of infected travelers will see a clinician within one week
after returning from their vacation (Results, par. 4).
A study was conducted over a ten year span from July 1998 to February 2008 to find the
cause and locations of problem skin infections among travelers. The study analyzed the relative
frequency of dermatologic infectious diagnoses out of 2,834 people. Travelers/patients were
seen in a pre-travel clinic to compare lab results and data collected post-travel. Patients with skin
infections had biopsies taken to determine what type of infection they had contracted. Out of the
2,834 post-travelers, 540 had been diagnosed having a skin disorder (Results, par. 1).
South America, Africa, and East Asia were the top three locations recorded having the
highest number of post-travelers diagnosed with infectious skin disorders. All three locations
combined accounted for more than half of the total skin infections diagnosed; however, travelers
returning from South America were significantly worse than the other locations and had been
diagnosed with mainly tropical infectious skin disorders.
The three genres of the study consist of infectious skin disorders, non-infectious skin
disorders, and healthy travelers. The most common of the three was tropical infectious skin
disorders with a result of sixty-four percent out of the infected diagnoses (Abstract). The three

main infectious skin disorders are Leishmaniasis, Myiasis, and Bacterial skin infections (nontropical). Leishmaniasis was the number one recorded tropical skin infection among travelers.
There were also higher recorded numbers of men infected than women; whereas Myiasis and
bacterial infections were primarily equal among men infected and women infected. The higher
number of men infected suggested that men have more risk-taking behaviors and tend to engage
in less preventative measures.
Throughout the study there were limitations and chances for error. Some infections may
have healed on their own before the patients post-travel doctor appointment. Some travelers
may have been already diagnosed and treated by a clinic where they were vacationing.
Skin infections are common but can be prevented by being more aware of your
surroundings and not participating in potentially infectious risky behaviors. Making sure to keep
vacations at a reasonable length, applying arthropod repellent, wearing closed shoes, and overall
having good skin hygiene are a few more preventative techniques (Discussion, par. 12).

Bibliography
Michal Solomon, Shmuel Benenson, Sharon Baum, and Eli Schwartz. Tropical Skin
Infections Among Israeli Travelers. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,
85(5), 2011, pp. 868-872, 2 Apr. 2011. Web.10 Sep. 2014.