Ellos también viajan / Child travellers count

La Organización Mundial del Turismo estima que en el año 2013 el turismo continuará creciendo y que en el año 2020 los viajes internacionales van a ser 1,6 billones. En 2011 se realizaron en España 13,3 millones de viajes al extranjero. Las estimaciones de niños españoles que realizan un viaje internacional son muy escasas, pero se sabe que estos representan aproximadamente un 10% de los viajeros, porcentaje parecido al mencionado en estudios realizados en EE. UU. Además, en la última década en España ha aumentado la población inmigrante, lo que incrementa el número de familias que retornan a sus países de origen para visitar a sus amigos y familiares. Aunque los niños representan una parte importante de los viajeros internacionales, existe poca información acerca de la medicina previaje en este grupo de población. El objetivo de este artículo es describir las particularidades, en el niño que realiza un viaje internacional, de los consejos generales y las recomendaciones de vacunación y prevención de la malaria; se pretende prevenir no solo las enfermedades infecciosas, sino también las no infecciosas (AU)

The World Tourism Organization estimates that in 2013 tourism will continue growing and that in 2020 there will be 1.6 billion international trips taken. In 2011, there were 13.3 million trips taken abroad in Spain. There are very few figures for the number of international trips taken by Spanish children, but it is known that they form about 10% of travellers, a similar percentage to that found in US studies. Furthermore, during the last decade the immigrant population of Spain has grown, increasing the number of families returning to their home country to visit friends and relations. Although children make up a significant proportion of international travellers there is little information on pre-travel medicine for this group. The aim of this article is to describe the particularities of general advice, vaccination recommendations and malaria prevention for child international travellers, with the purpose of both infectious and non-infectious disease prevention (AU)

[Air transport, aeronautic medicine, health]. / Influences du transport aérien sur la santé.

There were 3.2 billion airline passengers in 2006, compared to only 30 million in 1950. Intercontinental health disparities create a risk of pandemics such as SARS and so-called bird flu. Precautions are now being implemented both in airports and in aircraft, in addition to measures intended to prevent the spread of malaria and arboviral diseases, such as vector eradication, elimination of stagnant water, malaria prophylaxis, vaccination, and use of repellents. These measures are dealt with in international health regulations, which have existed since 1851 and were last updated on 15 June 2007. Flying on an airliner also carries a risk of hypobaria (cabin pressure at 2000 m), which can aggravate respiratory problems. Other problems include relative hypoxia, gas expansion, air dryness, ozone, cosmic rays, airsickness, jet lag, the effects of alcohol and tobacco, and, more recently, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), collectively known as "coach class syndrome". A new type of medicine has appeared, in the form of on-board medical assistance. The European Civil Aviation Committee has recommended first-aid training for cabin crews and onboard medical equipment such as first-aid kits and defibrillators. Airline statistics show that one in-flight medical incident occurs per 20 000 passengers, as well as one death per 5 million passengers and one medical reroute per 20 000 flights (40% of reroutes turn out to be unjustified). More than 80% of long-haul flights have a physician travelling on board. However, depending on his or her specialty, problems of competence and legal responsibility may arise. Ground-based medical centers can provide help via satellite telephone, but this implies the need for airline staff training. International cooperation is the only way to minimize the health risks associated with the growth in global air travel.