Respiratory Illness is Second Only to Gastrointestinal Illness as a Cause of Illness in Travelers (1/1997 - 12/2002)

1. Travelers - excludes recent immigrants and expatriate residents without recent international travel.
2. East Asia - includes Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan.
3. Upper respiratory illness - includes acute or chronic sinusitis, otitis (all types), pharyngitis, laryngitis, glossitis, stomatitis, rhinitis, tonsillitis, pertussis, and nonspecific upper respiratory infection.
4. Lower respiratory illness - includes acute or chronic bronchitis, influenza, pneumonia (atypical/diffuse, bacterial/lobar), acute respiratory distress syndrome, asthma unspecified, legionellosis, pleurisy, mycobacterial infection, pulmonary eosinophilia.

Respiratory illness accounts for 11.6% of all illness in returning travelers and for 12.8% of all illness from East Asia making it second to only gastrointestinal infections (data not shown) as a cause of illness in travelers.  The GeoSentinel data confirms that respiratory illness in travelers to East Asia, or anywhere else, is remarkably common and indicates how susceptible the respiratory tracts of travelers are to infectious agents.  This not only will facilitate the spread of SARS and avian influenza but of novel respiratory pathogens yet to emerge.

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