Medical Library


The Travax Medical Library covers nearly 200 travel health topics, offering in-depth reference materials for medical professionals, plus educational handouts for the travelers they counsel

Medical Library content is organized under the categories listed below. Of note, many topics feature related Literature Watch Reviews, which are abstracts of medical journal articles annotated by Shoreland's medical advisors.

Medical Library categories

  • Vaccines: Available resources generally include a summary of the illness itself plus vaccine information such as administration guidelines, contraindications, side effects, compatibility, manufacturer info, bibliography, accelerated schedules, adverse events, and related tables. Traveler handouts are included for each vaccine-preventable disease in this section.
  • Other Infectious Diseases: All significant travel-related diseases not found under "Vaccines" are listed here (e.g., dengue fever, traveler's diarrhea, and malaria). A similar depth of medical information is available, as well as a traveler handout on each disease.
  • Health & Safety: Provider and traveler articles are included for weightier topics such as altitude sickness, traveler's thrombosis, and seafood poisoning. The more basic topics only include a traveler handout (e.g., sun and heat, insect precautions, and swimming).
  • Special Needs: Informative articles, handouts, and other resources are available for topics relating to special needs (e.g., immunocompromised, pregnant, corporate, or diabetic travelers).
  • Forms & Samples: Standard forms used in the counseling process, including a medical questionnaire, immunization exemption letters, and the VAERS form.
  • Counseling Algorithm: A set of 14 medical algorithms assists practitioners in the counseling of travelers regarding malaria prophylaxis and vaccination decisions.
  • Guided Overview of Travel Health & Safety: This layperson's introduction to travel health issues is the online version of Shoreland's Travel Health Companion booklet.
  • Travel Clinic Operations Guide: Information on establishing, operating, and marketing travel health services.

Literature Watch Reviews

Literature Watch Reviews are abstracts of medical journal articles annotated by Shoreland's medical advisors

Our editorial team routinely monitors approximately 30 journals, watching for articles that meet the criteria of relevance (deals directly with travel medicine concerns and has application in clinical practice) and uniqueness (addresses a conclusive change in the standard of care based on solid evidence; presents new information on prevention guidelines, products, or health regulations; is a touchstone article on a topic; or contributes a worthwhile topic to the base of travel health information presented in Travax).

Some 350 reviews are available, with 2 to 4 new reviews added to Travax each month. Users can also opt to receive each new Literature Watch Review via e-mail.

The reviews are accessible within Travax via the Literature Watch Reviews link that appears for the menu for the topic in the Medical Library. A link to "Recent Literature Watch Reviews" is provided on the What's New & Alerts page as well.

Reviews use the following presentation format (see sample):

  • Conclusion. The reviewer's summary of what is most relevant and applicable from the original article for the practice of travel medicine.
  • Abstract. A recapitulation of original experimental data from the article.
  • Commentary. The reviewer's observations about the article's topic, study methods, timeliness, relevance, and ramifications.