Travelling for work—seeking advice in South Africa

Abstract

Sub Saharan Africa, a very high-risk destination for travellers, is an important destination for South African workers. The concomitant occupational exposure to infectious diseases raises concern about the adequate risk-related preparation of business travellers, particularly those moving to remote areas. Occupational health practitioners in South Africa are concerned about expatriates whose ‘last-minute’ consultation pattern may preclude adequate disease prevention and appropriate preparation for travel. The South African Society of Travel Medicine established a national sentinel surveillance system and, with the National Institute for Occupational Health, investigated the pre-travel consultation patterns in business travellers. A retrospective study was conducted on records of 20 000 travellers attending 24 sentinel general and travel medicine practices in main South African centres from January 2005 to December 2006. Reason for travel, destination, and the time between consultation and departure were collated. Data were analysed using STATA. Business travellers comprised 42% of the travellers consulting clinics and had a mean ‘consultation to departure’ period of 15.2 days. Over half the business travellers (54%) consult less than a week before departure, while 92% consult less than a month before departure. Other countries in Africa are the destination for 73% of business travellers. This is the first national surveillance of South African corporate and leisure travellers seeking travel advice. Since Africa is the destination for most business travellers consulting travel medicine clinics in South Africa, the period of consultation prior to departure is of particular concern with regard to malaria prophylaxis and completion of multiple dose vaccine schedules. The findings of this sentinel surveillance indicate the need for detailed comparison of time to departure with vaccines and malaria prophylaxis; for targeted advice to the corporate industries deploying employees in Africa; and to define accelerated schedules to maximise protection for the ‘last-minute’ business traveller.