Chair & Co-Chair

  • natalie prevatt

    Natalie Prevatt

    Chair, Pediatrics
    United Kingdom

Steering Council

  • Immediate Past Chair: Sheila Mackell, United States of America
  • John Christenson, United States of America
  • Leah Kern, United States of America
  • Sarah Kohl, United States of America
  • Francisco Silva, United States of America
  • Mike Starr, Australia

Welcome to the home page of the ISTM Pediatrics Interest Group. This group is free to join with your ISTM membership and gives you the opportunity to collaborate with other ISTM members who are interested in this area.
There has been a steady increase in Children travelling internationally over time, children may go to remote areas on parents work assignments, or on pleasure trips which include high altitude destinations and water sport destinations, and very many will now visit developing countries. Informal surveys of ISTM members show that the majority want more pediatrics travel medicine information.

The council leading this group is currently constructed of Pediatricians from around the globe but we welcome all practitioners as we know that all travel practitioners, regardless of their primary specialty see children in their clinics. We hope all our interest group members will be involved in bringing discussion topics, or suggestions to direct us in projects that will make the ISTM, and this growing specialty even better.

We aim to demonstrate the importance of travel-related issues for children in our ‘not so small’ part of Travel medicine.
For our members we provide:

  • A professional forum where ISTM Members interested in Pediatric Travel medicine can network.
  • Regular forum discussions to facilitate learning and cooperation between different providers for pediatric TM.
  • A regularly updated bibliography, and signposting to new guidance.
  • Teaching sessions to educate travel medicine practitioners on specific issues regarding children in Travel.
  • Improved visibility of Pediatric travel medicine within the ISTM.

For the ISTM we do the following:

  • Advance the international body of knowledge in Pediatric Travel Medicine
  • Monitor the pediatric literature for travel-related articles and the travel literature for pediatric articles
  • Communicate with other ISTM sub-groups on pediatric issues
  • Communicate with external professional groups where pediatric travel medicine issues are relevant
  • Disseminate relevant information to ISTM members
  • Encourage non-ISTM members interested in pediatric travel medicine to join the ISTM

The Pediatric Interest Group Charter

  • Promote visibility and support of pediatric travel medicine within the ISTM.
  • Provide a forum within ISTM for members interested in pediatric travel medicine to communicate with each other.
  • Communicate with ISTM sub-groups and other professional and interest groups on issues where pediatric aspects are of special importance.
  • Advance the science of pediatric travel medicine and provide professional education about pediatric travelers
  • Alert non-travel medicine health care providers who deal with infants and children to the importance of travel-related issues.
  • Facilitate the development of timely, evidence based, peer-reviewed information regarding the health and safety aspects of infants and children in the pre, during, and post travel phase which includes potential impacts on their physical and mental development.
  • Establish effective means to disseminate pediatric-related travel health information to ISTM members, to other health providers, to the media, and to parents.
  • Encourage non-ISTM members interested in pediatric travel medicine to join the ISTM.

Preliminary recommendations for accomplishing Charter provisions include:

Take Specific ISTM-Related Action:

  • Establish an informative pediatric page on the ISTM website
  • Further develop pediatric-oriented sessions at ISTM conferences.
  • Develop pediatric travel-related sessions at pediatric conferences.

Serve ISTM Members:

  • Monitor the pediatric literature for travel-related articles.
  • Establish databases for travel health professionals, for other health care practitioners, and for parents.
  • Identify pediatric-knowledgeable travel medicine practitioners overseas.
  • Compile lists of websites which provide good pediatric travel-related information.

Advance the Science of Pediatric Travel Medicine:

  • Encourage pediatric researchers to publish travel-related material in the Journal of Travel Medicine and in other relevant journals.
  • Establish contact with pediatric societies to exchange information.
  • Survey established travel medicine clinics to see how we can assist them to improve their services to parents.
  • Facilitate the preparation of guidelines for screening teenagers going overseas for school, volunteering, living with host families, tourism, etc.
  • Provide information for health care professionals who advise travelers visiting friends and families in developing countries.
  • Study the psychological impact (if any) on children who live overseas in different cultures for extended periods of time
  • Contact organizations that provide travel medicine services to encourage them to become more child oriented. Example: Existing in-flight medical kits are inappropriate for infants and young children.