DOCTORS in Bolton are being urged to record travel histories from patients who catch infectious diseases while abroad.
With nearly 60 million UK residents making trips abroad every year, travel-related illnesses often go undetected as patients' travel histories are currently not reported.
Health Protection Agency deputy North-west regional director Professor Martyn Regan said: "
We need to know more about these disease patterns, both to be able to provide the right level of advice to travellers and to build up capacity and capability in this country for dealing with these diseases when we encounter them."
The HPA has published a report on travel-related illnesses following the first year of its new Travel Health Surveillance Section; a group established to monitor travel-associated illnesses and to promote clinical standards.
The outbreaks of SARS triggered the HPA to ask doctors to record travel histories.
The rapid worldwide spread of the disease led to agencies such as the HPA being heavily dependent on patient records to request laboratory investigations.
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