SELF-REPORTED ILLNESS AMONG TRAVELERS TO THE RUSSIAN FAR-EAST

This study evaluated the risk of travelers to the Russian Far East dev eloping acute gastrointestinal or respiratory symptoms. Passengers and crew on 10 commercial airline flights from the Russian Far East to th e United States were asked to complete a health questionnaire that ask ed age, sex, country of residence, length of stay, foods and beverages consumed, and about gastrointestinal or ''flu'' symptoms. Questionnai res were returned by 353 of 662 persons (53.3 percent). The most frequ ently reported symptoms were diarrhea (N = 18; 5.1 percent) and ''flu '' symptoms (N = 15; 4.2 percent). Among those people who reported sym ptoms, most were sick for 3 days or less, although 10 (27. 0 percent) were still sick at the time that they entered the United States. Age a nd sex were not associated with symptoms. Persons who drank untreated tap water were more likely to have gastrointestinal symptoms (relative risk = 2.7, 95 percent confidence interval = 1.2, 5.9) while those wh o drank bottled or canned fruit juice were protected (relative risk = 0.4; 95 percent confidence interval = 0.2, 0.8). The incidence of ''fl u'' symptoms was similar to the rate for the general population of the United States while the incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms was in creased and only slightly less than the rate among travelers to develo ping countries. Travelers may wish to restrict consumption of untreate d tap water and increase consumption of fruit juices. Additional work is needed to identify the pathogens responsible for acute illnesses am ong travelers to the Russian Far East.