General physicians still fail to take travel histories.

BACKGROUND: Global travel continues to facilitate the spread of infectious diseases, as demonstrated by the West African Ebola epidemic, COVID-19 and mpox outbreaks. Accurate travel histories are essential for formulation of appropriate differential diagnoses, avoiding delays in diagnosis, treatment and implementation of relevant infection prevention and control measures. We repeated a 2011 study that had revealed very poor recording of travel histories in two hospitals in the UK. METHODS: A retrospective review of the medical notes on admission of sequential patients referred to acute medical units of two hospitals was done in north-west England over a three-week period in 2025. Patients were included if they presented with fever, rash, diarrhoea and vomiting or jaundice, or unwell post travel. A standardised proforma was used to record patient demographics, travel and sexual histories, viral haemorrhagic fever risk assessment and discharge diagnoses. RESULTS: A total of 113 patients met the inclusion criteria with a median (range) age of 58 (18-96) years (56% female). The most common presenting complaint was fever (54.9%), followed by diarrhoea and vomiting (32.7%). A travel history was documented in 11 (9.7%) acute medical records. Four additional histories were noted in other documentation. Three patients had recently travelled, all within Europe. Documentation of travel dates, trip duration or pre-travel advice was minimal in all eleven patients. A sexual history was recorded for one patient. CONCLUSIONS: Despite educational programmes and the introduction of electronic proformas and prompts over the last 15 years, the recording of travel histories by generalist acute physicians remains sub-optimal in the north-west of England. Alternative educational and technological interventions should be considered, to attempt to remedy this situation.