International Travel Medicine Center of Iran International Journal of Travel Medicine and Global Health 2322-1100 9 4 2021 12 01 Vaccine Passport Use and Travel Health Status Among Turkish Travelers at an International Airport 161 169 144128 10.34172/ijtmgh.2021.27 EN Mustafa Kahraman Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, School of Medicine, Çanakkale, Turkey 0000-0002-5775-5928 Irem Yuksel School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0002-3023-7477 Elif Beyza Boz School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0003-2759-3013 Hasan Ediz Ozbek School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0002-1655-6412 Elif Mert School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0002-4216-1094 Aybike Reyhanli School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0001-5223-3517 Aslihan Sari School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0003-0312-1935 Enes Muhammed Canturk School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0003-4216-5180 Ebru Can School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0002-2129-3987 Ataberk Demirkol School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0002-2099-5020 Mustafa Sencer Toraman School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0003-2977-3624 Nilufer Yildirim School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0003-4738-9300 Meryem Merve Oren Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0002-3383-7830 Sila Hidayet Bozdogan Polat Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0002-3641-2002 Osman Kan General Directorate of Health for Border and Coastal Areas of Turkey, Ankara, Turkey 0000-0002-6536-066X Cemal Ayazoglu General Directorate of Health for Border and Coastal Areas of Turkey, Ankara, Turkey 0000-0003-1085-0415 Fulya Kahraman Aydogan General Directorate of Health for Border and Coastal Areas of Turkey, Ankara, Turkey 0000-0003-3479-6548 Sukru Ozturk Department of Internal Medicine, School of of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0002-8809-7462 Mehmet Akif Karan Department of Internal Medicine, School of of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0002-9080-404X Journal Article 2021 09 26 <strong>Introduction: </strong>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.<br /><strong>Methods: </strong>A questionnaire was administered to 182 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 2019.<br /><strong>Results: </strong>The proportion of carrying a vaccination certificate was statistically higher in those who received healthcare services at international terminals (<em>P</em>=0.002), especially those who had yellow fever (<em>P</em><0.001) and meningococcal vaccine (<em>P</em>=0.011). More than half of the vaccinated passengers did not carry their vaccination certificates, while around half (53.8%) were traveling to Africa. When compared to travelers flying to Europe, vaccination checks were 6.7 times (95% CI: 2.5-17.9) higher in passengers traveling to Africa, 6.1 times (95% CI: 1.5-24.3) higher in passengers traveling to Asia, and 14.8 times (95% CI: 1.3-164.3) higher in passengers traveling to South America. In addition, the vaccination certificate carrying proportion was significantly higher in those with a travel duration of 15 days or more (<em>P</em>=0.028), those who received health services at international terminals (<em>P</em>=0.002), and those vaccinated (<em>P</em><0.001).<br /><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Improved knowledge of travel-related infectious diseases and increased adoption of pre-travel health advice and vaccines are urgently needed among Turkish travelers. https://www.ijtmgh.com/article_144128_af008003e80bb699dfac22d53ed6c5be.pdf