How To Hit the Runs for Fifty Million Travelers at Risk
Authors: Sherwood L. Gorbach
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2005)

Editorials17 May 2005How To Hit the Runs for Fifty Million Travelers at RiskSherwood L. Gorbach, MDSherwood L. Gorbach, MDFrom Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-142-10-200505170-00012 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail DuPont and colleagues' article in this issue on travelers' diarrhea among North American students in Mexico (1) reminds me that I have just passed the 50th anniversary of my first Mexican trip, where I experienced the joys of travel and its accompanying intestinal agonies. It is remarkable how little progress we have made in controlling this illness over the past half century. Among the approximately 50 million persons who travel each year from industrialized countries to resource-constrained countries, the incidence of diarrhea ranges from 30% to 50%. This incidence has remained stubbornly fixed at this level in many areas of ...References1. DuPont HL, Jiang ZD, Okhuysen PC, Ericsson CD, de la Cabada FJ, Ke S, et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of rifaximin to prevent travelers' diarrhea. Ann Intern Med. 2005;142:805-12. LinkGoogle Scholar2. Gorbach SL, Kean BH, Evans DG, Evans DJ, Bessudo D. Travelers' diarrhea and toxigenic Escherichia coli. N Engl J Med. 1975;292:933-6. [PMID: 163964] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Kean BH, Waters SR. The diarrhea of travelers. III. Drug prophylaxis in Mexico. N Engl J Med. 1959;261:71-4. [PMID: 13666981] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Kozicki M, Steffen R, Schar M. ‘Boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it': does this rule prevent travellers’ diarrhoea? Int J Epidemiol. 1985;14:169-72. [PMID: 3988431] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Merson MH, Morris GK, Sack DA, Wells JG, Feeley JC, Sack RB, et al. Travelers' diarrhea in Mexico. A prospective study of physicians and family members attending a congress. N Engl J Med. 1976;294:1299-305. [PMID: 772435] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Blaser MJ. Environmental interventions for the prevention of travelers' diarrhea. Rev Infect Dis. 1986;8 Suppl 2 S142-50. [PMID: 3523710] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Travelers' diarrhea: National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference. Bethesda, Maryland, January 28-30, 1985. Rev Infect Dis. 1986;8 Suppl 2 S109-233. [PMID: 3726399] MedlineGoogle Scholar8. Steffen R. Epidemiologic studies of travelers' diarrhea, severe gastrointestinal infections, and cholera. Rev Infect Dis. 1986;8 Suppl 2 S122-30. [PMID: 3523708] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Steffen R, van der Linde F, Gyr K, Schar M. Epidemiology of diarrhea in travelers. JAMA. 1983;249:1176-80. [PMID: 6823079] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Chapin AR, Carpenter CM, Dudley WC, Gibson LC, Pratdesaba R, Torres O, et al. Prevalence of norovirus among visitors from the United States to Mexico and Guatemala who experience traveler's diarrhea. J Clin Microbiol. 2005;43:1112-7. [PMID: 15750070] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar11. DuPont HL, Ericsson CD. Prevention and treatment of traveler's diarrhea. N Engl J Med. 1993;328:1821-7. [PMID: 8502272] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111.Disclosures: Consultancies: Bayer; Honoraria: Salix.Corresponding Author: Sherwood L. Gorbach, MD, Tufts University School of Medicine, Jaharis Building, 150 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111; e-mail, sherwood.[email protected]edu. 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