In time for vacation season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have revamped their “travelers’ health” website to include clinician and patient travel checklists.
 
In its promo for the pages, the CDC trumpets “streamlined” interactive checklists on destination pages for travelers and the health care workers who treat them. For example, if a patient puts on the checklist that she’s going to Ghana with her kids, it will return a page that tells her what vaccinations she’ll need (in this case, including one for yellow fever); direct her to relevant health info instructions (including “maintain personal security”); and warn her about indigenous disease (e.g. malaria). 
 
The clinician checklist is similar, but focuses on what the provider should recommend to the traveling patient – for example, “commercial suture/syringe kit to be used by local health care provider. (Requires a letter from your doctor on letterhead stationery.)”
 
The CDC has also updated its Travel Notices page, which tells you how dangerous your destination is right now. Among the Level 3warnings at this writing: “SARS in Asia-Outbreak” (“a high chance a traveler could be infected”) and “Earthquake in Haiti” (“the destination’s infrastructure… cannot support travelers at this time”).
 
The old, popular favorites are still there, including the STD page, which contains the following advisory:“The excitement of being on vacation may encourage people to do things they would not do at home, and the inhibition-lowering effects of drugs and alcohol can also contribute to this behavior. Travelers who have casual sex, whether vaginal, anal, or oral sex, are at risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as HIV, herpes, and gonorrhea.”
 
Bon voyage!