@article{ref1,
title="Causes of death among international travellers in Peru, 2017 to 2021",
journal="Journal of travel medicine",
year="2023",
author="Allel, Kasim and Cabada, Miguel M. and Lau, Collen and Mills, Deborah and Franklin, Richard C. and Zhu, Yan and Furuya-Kanamori, Luis",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The wellbeing and safety of international tourists is a paramount concern for governments and stakeholders. Mortality among travellers, and the causes of death, serve as a significant metric of destination safety. We describe the epidemiology and causes of death among international travellers in Peru. <br><br>METHODS: Data retrieved from the Peruvian government's deaths certificates registry included all non-residents who died between January 2017 and December 2021. We analysed the national incidence and causes of death among international travellers in Peru. Causes of death were classified into non-communicable diseases (NCD), communicable diseases, and injuries. We classified fatalities according to the existence of preventive measures that could be provided during the travel medicine consultation to decrease the risk. <br><br>RESULTS: We obtained records from 1514 deaths among international travellers (973 males, 64%). The incidence increased from 0.2 deaths per 10 000 travellers in 2017 to 9.9 in 2021. NCDs were the most common causes of death (n = 560, 37%), followed by communicable diseases (n = 487, 32%), and injuries (n = 321, 21%). Causes of death were unknown in 9.7% of the records. The leading causes of death in these categories were cancer, cardiovascular disease, COVID-19, and trauma. We found similar sex distribution of NCDs in travellers aged > 50 years and higher rates of communicable diseases among males across all ages. Injury-associated deaths were significantly higher among males aged 18-29 years (p < 0.001) compared to other sex-age groups. We estimated that for 57.7% of deaths risk could have been decreased through pre-travel advice. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Rates of deaths among travellers to Peru increased over time. Most deaths were due to NCDs, followed by communicable diseases and injuries. Pre-travel medical optimization and effective advice focused on age-sex and destination specific risks could reduce risk among travellers. Increased awareness among travel medicine practitioners and improvement of emergency medical response systems in Peru could decrease mortality.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1195-1982",
doi="10.1093/jtm/taad163",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taad163"
}