Travel-Related Parasitic Infections in Travellers to Southeast Asia and Western Pacific Countries

In the last decades, there has been a significant increase in international human mobility with increase in the prosperity, travel possibilities, and number of refugees. In the first half of 2016, the Asian continent showed the fastest growth in the number of tourists. Such increase is seen due to the interest in Asian history, culture, and cuisine. In the globalizing world, human mobility causes changes in the epidemiology of diseases and the spread of various infections across continents. Parasitic infections that may pose a risk for travellers to the Asia-Pacific are malaria, leishmaniasis, filariasis, foodborne trematode infections, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted infections, and tourist diarrhea. Consulting a travel medical expert and using health services such as pre-travel vaccination and chemoprophylaxis will reduce the risk of infectious diseases among travelers.