The common thread included in these definitions is use of immigrant status, race and/or ethnicity to classify individuals because the frequent view is that these factors predict a “complex set of behaviours.” Race and ethnicity, however, are poor predictors for

behaviors and/or health beliefs of individuals. In this increasingly mobile and culturally, ethnically, and racially intertwined world, a large number, perhaps a majority, of travelers cannot be classified on the basis of their immigrant status and ethnicity. It is rather essential that each individual’s preexisting Selleck Inhibitor Library health knowledge and beliefs be assessed during a travel visit. Dr Arguin states that it is not a change in travel patterns, but rather a significant increase in the total number of travelers 5-Fluoracil that is occurring. We believe that there is a distinct evolution in the type of traveler being seen in travel clinics, and that this has prompted the discussion on the relevance of the traditional immigrant/racial/ethnicity-based

definition of the VFR traveler. The complexity in defining this group of travelers is probably the proverbial “tip of the iceberg,” because this is the first non-privileged travel population to seek pre-travel care routinely. It is likely that the disparities in morbidity and mortality patterns demonstrated in the literature, and experienced by this population, are more closely related to their socioeconomic status than to their immigrant status, race, and/or ethnicity. This issue has not arisen before as socioeconomic factors restricted this group from attending travel clinics. The paper by Leder and co-workers describing a decreasing gradient of adverse health outcomes from an “immigrant VFR” to “traveler

Metalloexopeptidase VFR” to “tourist” is used by Dr Arguin as an argument that returning to one’s country of origin is a risk, independent of genetic factors or cultural background.4 This same paper, however, demonstrates that “nonimmigrant VFR travelers” (who are not identified using immigrant status, race, or ethnicity) exhibit an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. It is important to note that this latter group, reported by Leder, was by no means exclusively constituted by spouses and offspring accompanying an ethnic traveler. The complexity in defining travelers is increasing, as demonstrated by the case of a woman born and living in the United States who will be traveling to India with her Indian-born boy-friend to visit his family. Further, with Dr Arguin’s criteria (according to the current CDC definition) a person must be traveling from a higher-income to lower-income country to be a VFR traveler.