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Aust Fam Physician 2014 Jun;43(6):378-81

MBBS (Hons), Postgraduate Medical Year 2 Resident, Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC.

Background: Australians travel overseas frequently and general practitioners (GPs) are often asked to provide detailed advice on travel vaccinations for children. Planning a safe and effective vaccination schedule is dependent on the context: where and when the family is travelling, the individual child's medical needs and past vaccination history, and if they are visiting family and friends.

Objective: In this paper we provide an overview of the issues to consider when vaccinating Australian children for overseas travel. Read More

Epidemiol Infect 2016 Dec 30;144(16):3554-3563. Epub 2016 Aug 30.

School of Public Health & Community Medicine,UNSW Australia,Sydney,NSW,Australia.

Immigrants and their children who return to their country of origin to visit friends and relatives (VFR) are at increased risk of acquiring infectious diseases compared to other travellers. VFR travel is an important disease control issue, as one quarter of Australia's population are foreign-born and one quarter of departing Australian international travellers are visiting friends and relatives. We conducted a 1-year prospective enhanced surveillance study in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia to determine the contribution of VFR travel to notifiable diseases associated with travel, including typhoid, paratyphoid, measles, hepatitis A, hepatitis E, malaria and chikungunya. Read More

Commun Dis Intell Q Rep 2008 Sep;32(3):333-4

Brisbane Southside Population Health Unit, Gueensland Health, Archerfield.

Expert Rev Vaccines 2017 10;16(10):1029-1043

d Department of Clinical Medicine , University of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland.

Introduction: Typhoid and paratyphoid fever remain a global health problem, which - in non-endemic countries - are mainly seen in travelers, particularly in VFRs (visiting friends and relatives), with occasional local outbreaks occurring. A rise in anti-microbial resistance emphasizes the role of preventive measures, especially vaccinations against typhoid and paratyphoid fever for travelers visiting endemic countries. Areas covered: This state-of-the-art review recapitulates the epidemiology and mechanisms of disease of typhoid and paratyphoid fever, depicts the perspective of non-endemic countries and travelers (VFRs), and collectively presents current European recommendations for typhoid fever vaccination. Read More