[Vaccination protection and advice to travellers. Statistical data on the activity of the International Vaccination Center of Bordeaux (France) in 1988].

Most travellers to tropical countries are young adults aged between 25 and 44; they tend to be of average or high socioeconomic status, to have a university education and to live in urban areas. The number of countries visited is high (111). Half the travellers go to Senegal, Ivory Coast and French Guiana. Asian countries are underrepresented among the clients of the Bordeaux centre because they do not require yellow-fever vaccination. The main reasons for travel are pleasure (73%) and business (23%). The length of stay is closely correlated with the reason for travel. Considerably more people travel in the winter period. The most frequently performed vaccinations are yellow fever, tetanus and poliomyelitis, in roughly equal numbers. A major role of a vaccination centre in the eyes of the public is to provide travellers with information and advice. A specialist centre of this kind, kept regularly informed about epidemiological developments around the world, is best equipped to advise on effective malaria prophylaxis. The centre's health-education role extends to all risks associated with travelling, in particular the sexually transmitted diseases and specifically tropical diseases, and also the consequences of changes in climate or altitude and failure to take general hygiene precautions. Computerized data banks accessible to the general public are certainly an information medium for the future, but at present are still underused.