adolescents traveling to high-risk destinations: review and considerations for clinicians

Introduction: international travels have increased dramatically in recent years. adolescents constitute a fast-growing group of travelers. travels provide an opportunity for exposure to high-risk behavior. the current study reviewed the published data about travel-related morbidity among adolescents traveling to international destinations.methods: pubmed was searched for articles published from 2000-2017. the websites of public health organizations were also searched.results: in total, 21 articles presenting original data about adolescent international travelers were identified. the data indicated that adolescents frequently develop ailments during travel, including those attributable to age-related high-risk behavior. in addition, adolescents often manifest a travel-associated morbidity that differs in terms of proportion (e.g., higher rates of systemic febrile illness) from the travel-associated morbidity encountered in younger children and adults. pre-travel counseling is sought by less than half of adolescents traveling to high-risk destinations. gaps were found in travel vaccinations and antimalarial prophylaxis in adolescents traveling to endemic areas. information about vaccinations, antimalarial prophylaxis, and pre-travel counseling for adolescent travelers should be improved.conclusion: there is a need to improve pre-travel services for adolescents planning to travel to high-risk international destinations. communication strategies to access adolescent travelers and their parents should be investigated.