Travel Health: Risks of the South East Asia Region

Topics include:

• Influenza
• Measles
• Pertussis
• Tuberculosis
• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Travellers' diarrhoea
• Cholera
• Parasitic diseases
• Mosquitoes and mosquito protection
• Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya
• Malaria
• Japanese Encephalitis
• Scooter and motor vehicle accidents
• Rabies

Target audience

Health professionals who are counselling patients about pre-travel health strategies, including registered nurses in areas such as paediatrics and general practice, as well as midwives and Nurse Practitioners.

Purpose

Further understanding of the immediate and common risks for people travelling to South East Asia.
Be able to recognise key signs and syndromes in returning travellers that may require urgent referral.

Need

Australians travel overseas for a variety of reasons; increasingly nurses are part of the preparation of these travellers. Knowing what subjects to discuss for preventative health strategies is important. Understanding that those patients travelling to the South East Asia pacific region, may have different needs according to time of year and style of travel is important for nurses to understand. Many types of travellers have special needs; children, pregnant travellers, older adults and those that are immune compromised. These individuals need special considerations. Vector-borne diseases, such as Zika, are spreading throughout the world; travellers need to be informed how to protect themselves and nurses need to know what information to give them.

Health professionals in Australia that are registered with AHPRA are required to obtain continuing professional development (CPD) hours/points each year that relates to their context of practice, in order to comply with mandatory regulatory requirements.