Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
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<jats:title>Background</jats:title>
<jats:p>Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective disease prevention strategies. Trips from Portugal to other countries have increased in the past 5 years. Depending on the destination, certain vaccines are advised to travellers in order to reduce travel-related risk. We analyzed the data of an International Vaccination Centre (IVC) in the Public Health Unit of the Primary Care Centres Group (ACES) of Loures-Odivelas.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Methods</jats:title>
<jats:p>A retrospective observational study comprising data from an IVC database between 2014 and 2018. Variables included were sex, age, destination, purpose, referral, and prescriptions. Descriptive analyses were performed for all variables.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Results</jats:title>
<jats:p>Between 2014 and 2018, there was a total of 4,873 users. Regarding individual characteristics, 51% were female, 80% had between 15 and 64 years of age, and 51% were referred by general practitioners of the ACES. Africa was the leading destination (66% average for all years) with a downward trend (from 82% in 2014 to 47% in 2018) followed by South America (12%) with an upward trend (from 4% to 16% in the same period). The primary purpose of travelling was tourism (74%) followed by work (15%). A total of 7,323 vaccines were administered, with an annual increase from 1,250 administrations in 2014 to 1,862 in 2018. The yellow fever vaccine accounted for 36,9% of all administrations, followed by typhoid fever vaccine (32,3%) and hepatitis A vaccine (10,2%).</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title>
<jats:p>African countries are still the most common destination for Portuguese travellers, but changing trends might influence the vaccination strategies in the IVC. Information provided in the IVC can be optimized to suit individual profiles better.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Key messages</jats:title>
<jats:p>As travelling increases, the International Vaccination Centre has an essential role in the prevention of disease. Africa remains the most common destination, requiring pre-travel health counselling and vaccine prophylaxis.</jats:p>
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