ESSENTIAL TRAVEL MEDICINE. ZUCKERMAN J, BRUNETTE G, LEGGAT P

Essential Travel Medicine provides practical and fundamental travel medicine information for those studying and practicing travel medicine. The concise nature of the book complements more detailed and larger travel medicine reference textbooks.

The international editors have a background working in WHO Collaborating Centres, the CDC and in academia and have utilised their extensive knowledge and contacts to engage leading international specialists, including several Australians such as ASAM’s own Professor Peter Leggat to author the comprehensive range of chapters.

Given the ever increasing numbers of people travelling by land, sea and air for work or leisure it is not uncommon to have patients seeking travel health advice or indeed pilots asking similar advice as part of their work. A strength of Essential Travel Medicine is that is covers topics beyond the usual infectious diseases and vaccine-preventable illnesses that can be the primary focus of many travel-related health publications and where current information can readily be accessed from web-based sites such as the CDC, WHO and subscription services. Of particular note are the sections on “Travellers with underlying medical problems and special needs” and “Environmental travel health risks”. For example, the chapters on “Traveling with children”, “Travelers with underlying medical conditions” and “The older traveler and traveling with disability” are very pertinent as a broader range of people avail themselves of the opportunity to travel that was previously uncommon. Of topical relevance as people seek more adventurous, event-orientated or affordable destinations and activities are the chapters on “Expedition and wilderness medicine”, “Mass gatherings and travel medicine” and “Cruise ships and travel medicine”. There is also a chapter on “Aviation and travel medicine”.

Included are valuable chapters on “Pre-travel health risk assessment”, “Setting up a travel clinic”, “Travel medicine resources” and “Emergency care abroad”.

The book does have some limitations related to its strength of being concise, in that some chapter sections would benefit from greater detail or explanation. However, that is what a reference textbook is for. Anyway, detailed references are a feature of what has been intended as an everyday “Essential” travel medicine text.

In summary, Essential Travel Medicine provides easily readable and accessible travel medicine information in a compact and succinct format that fulfils the editors aim to “provide a comprehensive guide to travel medicine as well as a fundamental knowledge base”.