Information for the Patient: Travelling with HIV

RAVEL CAN BE ONE OF THE MOST RE WARD ING AND PLEASUR able ex pe ri ences. It can boost your mo rale and pro vide im por tant new per spec tives. How ever, travel to some for eign coun tries is as so ci ated with an in creased risk of in fec tions be cause of ex po sure to dif fer ent and of ten ex otic patho gens, es pe cially in topi cal cli mates. Al though most trav el lers can eas ily clear these patho gens with ap pro pri ate treat ment, the pres ence of hu man im mu no de fi ciency vi rus (HIV) in fec tion im poses added risks. Be fore fi nal iz ing travel plans, the HIV-i nfected per son needs to ob tain in for ma tion on a va ri ety of sub jects: re stric tions at bor der cross ings; in fec tious risks, in clud ing ma laria, tu ber cu lo sis and trav el lers’ di ar rhea; im mu ni za tions re quired and rec om mended; health care re sources abroad, es pe cially for those at risk for com pli ca tions of HIV in fec tion; pos si ble in ter ac tion be tween medi ca tions for HIV-r elated con di tions and pro phy laxis or treat ment of in fec tious dis eases; sun pho to sen si tiv ity in duced by medi ca tions; and health in sur ance cov er age. Thus, trav el lers with HIV in fec tion must be es pe cially dili gent in dis cuss ing their travel plans and itin er ary with their phy si cians. Re mem ber that you are the only one who can de cide what risks are ac cept able for you. The role of your phy si cian is not to tell you where to go or not to go. His or her role is to ex plain the risks clearly to help you make your plans. This re view ad dresses prob lems of the adult trav el ler only.