Travel health update

Providing travel health services in these uncertain times is definitely challenging, but nonetheless essential. Jane Chiodini provides practical advice as well as the latest WHO yellow fever update and new YFVC training requirements

PROVIDING A TRAVEL HEALTH SERVICE

As COVID-19 continues to have significant impact on us all, travellers seek to get breaks away but second guessing the travel corridors is proving very challenging. Many destinations will be in areas where travel advice isn’t usually sought and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) currently advises British nationals against all but essential international travel trips such as cruise ship travel and to many of the popular international destinations for example, most of Africa and South America, although some countries and territories are currently exempted. So observing the guidance found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-countries-and-territories-exempt-from-advice-against-all-but-essential-international-travel is essential. Demand for travel services will have reduced in your workplace but if there is a need, then provision of care remains essential and GP surgeries do have a responsibility to provide it. New models of working will be required, but using video or telephone consultations to undertake a travel risk assessment has never been more sensible, and the travellers can then just be asked to attend the surgery if vaccines are required. The Faculty of Travel Medicine (FTM) of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow has published guidance on the subject, found at https://rcpsg.ac.uk/documents/publications/covid-19/1412-covid-tm-guidance-statement-0720/file

NaTHNaC also continues to provide health advice for travellers during the COVID-19 situation which includes many useful resources: see https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/news/499/covid-19-coronavirus-general-advice-for-travellers

YELLOW FEVER

The World Health Organization has published updates to the country yellow fever recommendations and requirements for an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP). This is in a comprehensive document covering both the vaccination requirements and recommendations for international travellers, and malaria situation by country. The 2020 edition is available at https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/vaccination-requirements-and-recommendations-for-international-travelers-and-malaria-situation-per-country-2020-edition . In addition, a summary of the countries with risk of yellow fever transmission and countries requiring yellow fever vaccination, as of July 2020 can be found in Annex 1, at https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/countries-with-risk-of-yellow-fever-transmission-and-countries-requiring-yellow-fever-vaccination-(july-2020)

NaTHNaC and Travax adjusted their country recommendations accordingly so it is important to always review the advice for the specific country when yellow fever risk assessment and advice is being given to a traveller. See https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/news/538/yellow-fever-icvp-updated-individual-country-requirements-2020 .

NaTHNaC has recently announced a revised edition and format for yellow fever training for centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. All training is now delivered virtually with a 90 minute (approximately) training programme for all. Those who are new Yellow Fever Vaccination Centres (YFVC) or new to travel medicine are then advised to access a virtual classroom session within 3 months of the e-learning. The Conditions of Designation and Code of Practice for YFVC have also been revised and it is now mandatory for all those giving yellow fever vaccine to undergo training and successfully complete the exit test every two years. See https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/news/535/new-for-august-2020--updated-and-revised-yellow-fever-training-options. Access to the courses is via https://nathnactrainingportal.org.uk/library. The e-learning training alone costs £115, and with the virtual classroom workshop, £210.

TRAVEL HEALTH UPDATE WEBINARS

Do you want a training session to update you on travel health? Due to the uncertainty of the social distancing requirements as we move into the winter, I will be giving a travel health update online in a series of webinars on consecutive Tuesday lunchtimes in late November and early December. I will be joined at each session of these FTM events by two colleagues, and we’ll deliver a one hour selection of lectures on different topics followed by a live Q&A session. The fee for all four webinars is £40 for non-members and £25 for members. There are also corporate rates for CCGs and Health Boards who would like to purchase the training for all GPNs in their areas. See https://rcpsg.ac.uk/events/TravelMedicineLunchtimeLearning-2020-11-17-370 for more details. The training will also be available online after the training, along with relevant resources.