Vaccine Passport Use and Travel Health Status Among Turkish Travelers at an International Airport

Introduction: Even though Istanbul is one of the centers of the world’s fastest-growing tourism and travel sector, there are limited statistics on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of travelers from this region regarding travel-related infectious diseases. This study aimed to determine the passengers’ KAP about contagious diseases and contribute to developing new solutions for the problems people face while traveling abroad.Methods: A questionnaire was administered to ۱۸۲ Turkish travelers planning on traveling abroad and applied to the Istanbul Travel Health Center and the Istanbul Airport Health Control Center between January and March ۲۰۱۹.Results: The proportion of carrying a vaccination certificate was statistically higher in those who received healthcare services at international terminals (P=۰.۰۰۲), especially those who had yellow fever (P<۰.۰۰۱) and meningococcal vaccine (P=۰.۰۱۱). More than half of the vaccinated passengers did not carry their vaccination certificates, while around half (۵۳.۸%) were traveling to Africa. When compared to travelers flying to Europe, vaccination checks were ۶.۷ times (۹۵% CI: ۲.۵-۱۷.۹) higher in passengers traveling to Africa, ۶.۱ times (۹۵% CI: ۱.۵-۲۴.۳) higher in passengers traveling to Asia, and ۱۴.۸ times (۹۵% CI: ۱.۳-۱۶۴.۳) higher in passengers traveling to South America. In addition, the vaccination certificate carrying proportion was significantly higher in those with a travel duration of ۱۵ days or more (P=۰.۰۲۸), those who received health services at international terminals (P=۰.۰۰۲), and those vaccinated (P<۰.۰۰۱).Conclusion: Improved knowledge of travel-related infectious diseases and increased adoption of pre-travel health advice and vaccines are urgently needed among Turkish travelers.