Travel-related acquisition of diarrhoeagenic bacteria, enteral viruses and parasites in a prospective cohort of 98 Dutch travellers

Background: Limited prospective data are available on the acquisition of viral, bacterial and parasitic diarrhoeagenic agents by healthy individuals during travel. Methods: To determine the frequency of travel associated acquisition of 19 pathogens in 98 intercontinental travellers, qPCR was used to detect 8 viral pathogens, 6 bacterial enteric pathogens and 5 parasite species in faecal samples collected immediately before and after travel. Results: We found high pre-travel carriage rates of Blastocystis spp. and Dientamoeba fragilis of 32% and 19% respectively. Pre-travel prevalences of all o... Mehr ...