New travel medicine resources for healthcare professionals in Canada

The Public Health Agency of Canada has developed a comprehensive list of travel medicine resources to assist Canadian healthcare professionals in providing current and accurate travel medicine services.

The list of resources is organized into several categories:

• Courses, conferences and travel medicine groups (in Canada and internationally). For example, in Canada, the Alberta Association of Travel Health Professionals hosts a symposium and annual meeting each year in Canmore, Alberta.
• Certification. For instance, the International Society of Travel Medicine holds at least one certificate of knowledge examination each year in conjunction with its biannual conference and regional meetings.
• Travel medicine recommendations include links to recommendations provided by the Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel (CATMAT) and the Canadian Immunization Guide.
• French language travel health resources offer links to Santé Publique de France, Institut Pasteur, and Institut national de santé publique du Québec.
• Handbooks, periodicals and reports include links to the Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR); information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; e.g., Health information for international travel); the World Health Organization (WHO; e.g., International travel and health); and several journals (e.g., Journal of Travel Medicine, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and several others).
• Internet travel medicine forums. For example, TravelMed (Listserv) is an international travel medicine email discussion forum, open to members of the International Society of Travel Medicine.
• Online subscription services. These online services provide detailed assistance for any travel itinerary and can be very helpful for less-experienced practitioners. The user inputs itinerary and traveller information, and the site displays recommendations regarding immunizations, malaria prophylaxis and travel advice. Examples include services such as Gideon, TravaxShoreland, TravelHealthPro and Tropimed.
• Books are provided on travel medicine, vaccines, traveller’s diarrhea and tropical disease. (Many of these were published several years ago.)
• Outbreak reports and travel advisories. Travel health practitioners must stay current regarding disease outbreaks of importance to travellers. Links are provided to several sources that provide up-to-date information, including Disease outbreak news (WHO), GeoSentinel, Travel advice and advisories (Government of Canada), and Travel health notices (Government of Canada).
• Yellow fever. Links are provided to resources such as Yellow fever information (Government of Canada), Yellow fever vaccination centres in Canada, and the CDC health information for international travel (CDC Yellow Book, US).
• Sources of malaria recommendations. Recommendations regarding the need for chemoprophylaxis can vary widely. Familiarity with a broad set of national guidelines can provide practitioners with a wider perspective for developing recommendations and advice, particularly for itineraries associated with a low risk of malaria. Links are provided to Canadian resources (e.g., Canadian recommendations for the prevention and treatment of malaria, CATMAT); US resources (e.g., Yellow Fever Vaccine and Malaria Prevention Information, by Country [CDC Yellow Book]); European resources (e.g., Malaria Prevention Guidelines for Travellers from the U.K.); and international resources (e.g., World Health Organization: Travel advice).
• Travel medicine clinics in Canada and abroad, including links to Yellow fever vaccination centres in Canada, and the Global Travel Clinic Directory (International Society of Travel Medicine).
• Additional resources include a wide variety of travel resources such as the Canadian Malaria Network (provides timely medical access to artesunate or quinine for the treatment of malaria), and Canada's Travelling Public Program (provides inspection scores for cruise ships).