Considerations For Prevention and Standby Emergency Treatment For Travellers at High Risk of COVID-19 Hospitalization.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Journal of Travel Medicine, 2025, v. 32, no. 4: Considerations For Prevention and Standby Emergency Treatment For Travellers at High Risk of COVID-19 Hospitalization.
• Journal Article:
  Journal of Travel Medicine
• Personal Author:
  Patel, Pragna ; Freedman, David O.
• Description:
  At present rapid initiation of oral antiviral agents is the standard of care in the USA for ambulatory patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of progression to severe disease 1 To prevent further transmission for SARS CoV-2 self-test positive non-travellers telehealth visits are preferred rather than physical clinic visits for persons with mild to moderate symptoms Antivirals are prescribed if no contraindications are identified with education on when and how to seek any urgent in-person follow-up COVID-19 is a potentially life-threatening disease in high-risk travellers because they do not have established medical care in the countries they are visiting If no contraindications are identified antivirals may be prescribed along with education on when and how to seek urgent in-person follow-up A basic tenet of travel medicine in the USA is to strive to ensure the provision of a standard of care at the destination that would lead to similar outcomes as at home This tenet guides diplomatic services government agencies non-government organizations and multinational corporations as to whether an expensive medical evacuation should be undertaken This equally applies to decisions made by travel insurance providers covering individual travellers abroad For international travellers in 2025 the physician who is already familiar with the patient s baseline medications and medical history and is readily available for telehealth might consider providing travellers with an off-label use prescription of a COVID-19 antiviral prior to travel and providing medical care remotely As with malaria standby emergency therapy which has been recommended for the past 30 years telemedicine and self-treatment utilizing a reliable supply of carried medication should not replace seeking in-person medical care among high-risk travellers Here we will discuss how to ensure that high-risk adult travellers can initiate timely treatment at the many destinations where COVID-19 antivirals are not readily accessible currently including well-resourced destinations Limiting factors may include high cost but also strict government controls restricted access points and different indications in destination countries Clinicians who prescribe COVID-19 antivirals for travellers should consider many factors before doing so to ensure appropriate treatment and care by a medical professional We outline several important considerations below.
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • COVID-19
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Insurance Carriers
  • Off-Label Use
  • Self-Testing
  • Standard of Care
  • Travel Medicine
  • Government Agencies
  • Emergency Treatment
  • Antiviral Agents
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Considerations
  • prevention
  • standby
  • treatment
  • travellers
  • COVID-19
• Source:
  Journal of Travel Medicine, 2025, v. 32, no. 4
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taaf029
• ISSN:
  1195-1982 ; 1708-8305
• Pubmed ID:
  40184680
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC13080702
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Pages in Document:
  8 pdf pages
• Volume:
  32
• Issue:
  4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/261512/cdc_261512_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 127.60 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:55184a11d14d7c784b4f4abae911c3b2743a6e3bd28e338c625dd65d4c6ffccfb7d5fd4c7bb2a907d9e5573236ef55775483f9034ba5f52b7648934253f04002