International travel is not a significant risk of exposure for patients at a Midwestern United States travel clinic
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(2020) 6:25
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International travel is not a significant risk of exposure for patients at a Midwestern United States travel clinic Pooja Patel1 and Hans R. House2*
Abstract The Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was introduced into the United States via travel from Asia and Europe, although the extent of the spread of the disease was limited in the early days of the pandemic. Consequently, international travel may have played a role in the transmission of the disease into Iowa. This study seeks to determine how preferences for international travel changed as novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) spread throughout the world and if any of these returning travelers developed COVID-19 as a result of their trips. This is a retrospective chart review of patients presenting to a travel clinic in Bettendorf, Iowa for pre-travel advice and vaccinations. From October 2019 to March 2020, four hundred twelve (n = 412) patients presented to the clinic. Intended travel to the Western Pacific region (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) decreased dramatically during the study period. All 412 patients were followed in the electronic medical record for the period after their planned travel and only three (3) presented for COVID-19 testing. Two (2) tested positive, and both of these infections were linked to workplace exposures and not due to travel. News of the growing pandemic and travel warnings likely altered patients’ travel plans and decreased travel to the most affected regions of the world in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on our study, travel was not a significant source of COVID-19 exposure for patients seen at this clinic. Keywords: Coronavirus, International travel, Iowa, Transmission
Introduction In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) rapidly spread worldwide, carried by international travelers via air transportation. SARS-CoV-2 was introduced into the United States due to travel from Asia and Europe, and it spread in the community for the first time in California and Washington [1]. Similarly, international travel may have played a role in the introduction of COVID-19 disease into Iowa, as the index cases were patients returning from a cruise in Egypt [2]. A travel medicine clinic in Bettendorf, Iowa * Correspondence: [email protected] 2 Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, RCP 1008, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
offers pre-travel advice and immunizations to patients planning travel overseas. If imported disease was a major source of COVID-19 cases at the beginning of the pandemic in Iowa, then patients seen in the months prior to March 11, 2020 (the declaration of the pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO)) would be at higher risk for illness. Additionally, the distribution of planned trips overseas for patients seen at the clinic as the pandemic unfolded may provide an insight into how attitudes towards travel changed as the disease sp
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