International Travel is Not a Significant Risk of Exposure for Patients at a Midwestern United States Travel Clinic
Abstract The Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was introduced into the United States due to travel from Asia and Europe, although the extent of the spread of the disease was limited in the early days of the Pandemic. International travel may have played a role in the transmission of the disease into Iowa. Persons planning international travel likely modified their travel plans as a result of the viral outbreak. This study, documenting the travel destinations of patients from a clinic in Bettendorf, Iowa, seeks to determine how preferences for international travel changed as Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) spread throughout the world and if any of these patients developed COVID-19 as a result of their travel. From October 2019 to March 2020, four hundred twelve (n=412) patients presented for pre-travel advice. Intended travel to the Western Pacific region (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) decreased dramatically during the study period. Of the 412 patients, only three (3) presented for COVID-19 testing during the follow-up period. Two (2) tested positive, and both of these infections were linked to workplace exposures and not due to travel. News of the growing pandemic and travel warnings likely altered patient’s travel plans and fewer intended travel to the most affected regions of the world in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel was not a significant source of COVID-19 exposure for patients seen at this clinic.