Adolescents Traveling to High-Risk Destinations: Review and Considerations for Clinicians

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.

PubMed was searched for articles published from 2000-2017. The websites of public health organizations were also searched.

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.

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.