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Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization
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Many overseas travelers seem to be ignoring the
common health risks of traveling, according to a new study that examined U.S.
travelers going to other nations. Of 400 outbound travelers at JFK
International Airport in New York, only 36 percent of the outbound travelers
going to places where hepatitis or malaria are endemic sought travel health
advice, while 65 percent did not know of the risk of malaria and 80 percent
underestimated the risk of contracting hepatitis A. Few of the respondents had
taken preventative vaccines or drugs. Just one-fourth of the travelers were
vaccinated against hepatitis A or B. Previous research has estimated that
between 22 percent and 63 percent of overseas travelers come home sick.
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"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"