Pediatrics - Travel and International Health

Travel Medicine Program

The International Clinic provides a family-oriented program to reduce the incidence of travel related illness. Most patients are from the international community of Boston Medical Center, where more than half of all children have at least one parent who was born outside the United States.

The Travel Medicine program provides:

• Travel-specific immunizations
• Information about prevention of malaria and other insect-borne diseases
• Information about prevention and treatment of traveler's diarrhea
• Education about prevention of other travel-related conditions
• Hand-outs for patients to take with them outlining preventive measures they can carry out during their travels
• Evaluation of travelers who develop illness during their travels

The Clinic also sees patients who may have become sick from travel abroad. These illnesses include parasitic infections and other conditions such as malaria, schistosomiasis and strongyloides, which may be unfamiliar to many American physicians. As patients are treated, close contact is maintained with each patient’s primary care provider.

For health information on international travel, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.