Caring for the child traveler: Results of a practice gaps and educational needs survey

[...]expertise in pediatric travel medicine has become essential for providers offering travel health care to children. Care for such children poses significant challenges, firstly, as their young age and/or underlying conditions render them more vulnerable for travel-related health risks, and secondly, because the evidence-base for providing best practices is limited [5]. [...]young traveling children may not have received all routine immunizations at the departure time or may have contraindications for certain vaccines and preventive medications. Pediatric travel medicine topics Practice gaps perceiveda Identified cause of practice gapb,c,d Level of interest to receive focused educationa,e Yes, n/N (%) No/Not sure, n/N (%) Lack of education n/N (%) Lack of practical experience n/N (%) Lack of resources or guidelines n/N (%) Very Interested/Interested n/N (%) Somewhat Interested n/N (%) Not at all Interested n/N (%) Child traveling with special needs or chronic disease 116/128 (91) 12/128 (9) 28/116 (24) 55/116 (47) 33/116 (29) 81/128 (63) 43/128 (34) 4/128 (3) Off-label vaccine use 90/104 (87) 14/104 (14) 27/90 (30) 23/90 (26) 40/90 (44) 79/103 (77) 17/103 (17) 7/103 (7) Post-travel evaluation 79/102 (78) 23/102 (23) 25/79 (32) 41/79 (52) 13/79 (17) 73/97 (75) 19/97 (20) 5/97 (5) Expat and long-term pediatric traveler 85/110 (77) 25/110 (23) 20/85 (24) 29/85 (34) 36/85 (42) 78/109 (72) 29/109 (27) 2/109 (2) Tuberculosis/Use of BCG vaccine 78/104 (75) 26/104 (25) 30/78 (39) 28/78 (36) 20/78 (26) 69/100 (69) 23/100 (23) 8/100 (8) Japanese encephalitis 60/94 (64) 34/94 (36) 24/60 (40) 21/60 (35) 15/60 (25) 63/91 (69) 22/91 (24) 6/91 (7) Child visiting friends and relatives 64/104 (62) 40/104 (39) 18/64 (28) 24/64 (38) 22/64 (34) 72/102 (71) 27/102 (26) 3/102 (3) Zika virus 53/88 (60) 35/88 (40) 14/53 (26) 24/53 (45) 15/53 (28) 63/85 (74) 20/85 (24) 2/85 (2) Chikungunya 47/85 (55) 38/85 (45) 21/47 (45) 18/47 (38) 8/47 (17) 56/82 (68) 20/82 (24) 6/82 (7) Accelerated administration of routine vaccines 46/87 (53) 41/87 (47) 14/46 (30) 12/46 (26) 20/46 (44) 57/82 (70) 21/82 (26) 4/82 (5) Teen, young adult and student traveler 48/90 (53) 42/90 (47) 13/48 (27) 15/48 (31) 20/48 (42) 69/92 (75) 22/92 (24) 1/92 (1) Dengue 43/82 (52) 39/82 (48) 13/43 (30) 20/43 (46) 10/43 (23) 54/79 (68) 21/79 (27) 4/79 (5) Meningococcal vaccine for pediatric traveler 39/83 (47) 44/83 (53) 16/39 (41) 13/39 (33) 10/39 (26) 50/86 (58) 26/86 (30) 10/86 (12) Personal safety (transportatio