Travel- and immigration-related problems in rheumatology

Health problems are self-reported by up to 64% of travellers to the developing world. Traditionally, rheumatic symptoms are accorded little significance, but many travellers do return home with musculoskeletal complaints. The assessment of these patients is often hindered by the Western clinician's lack of familiarity with the types of infections that the patient may have encountered while travelling. Standard serological tests for autoimmune diseases can be unreliable in the setting of concomitant tropical infection, and these infections themselves can have musculoskeletal manifestations. Even in the absence of tropical infection, laboratory investigation of musculoskeletal symptoms in individuals of different ethnicities is challenging due to genetic and physiological variation. This review focusses on addressing the impact global migration has had on rheumatological clinical practice.     

Psychosocial and Clinical Outcomes of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Asians and Pacific Islanders with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are twice as likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes compared to Caucasians. The objective was to determine the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on quality of life, general health perceptions, depressive symptoms, and glycemia in Asians and Pacific Islanders with type 2 diabetes. The design was a randomized controlled clinical trial comparing cognitive behavioral therapy to diabetes education and support for six weekly sessions. Participants were recruited from two endocrinology practices; 207 were enrolled. The cognitive behavioral therapy group was provided self-management tools which included biofeedback, breathing exercises, and stress relievers, while the diabetes education and support group included diabetes education and group discussions. Assessments of psychosocial and clinical outcomes were obtained before and after sessions and 12 months PostSession. Differences between the two groups were examined using linear mixed-effects models with linear contrasts. The cognitive behavioral therapy group had improved depressive symptom scores from PreSession to EndSession compared to the diabetes education and support group (P < .03), but the improvement did not extend to 12 months PostSession. Similar results were observed with misguided support scores in the Multidimensional Diabetes Questionnaire (P < .03) and susceptibility in health beliefs (P < .01), but no significant differences in HbA1c improvement were found between the two groups. Both interventions improved outcomes from baseline but were not sustained for 1 year.     

Dengue Virus Type 3, South Pacific Islands, 2013

After an 18-year absence, dengue virus serotype 3 reemerged in the South Pacific Islands in 2013. Outbreaks in western (Solomon Islands) and eastern (French Polynesia) regions were caused by different genotypes. This finding suggested that immunity against dengue virus serotype, rather than virus genotype, was the principal determinant of reemergence.     

Indexed in SCI Medline

<正>Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine(APJTM)is an international journal of tropical medicine that is edited by International Federation of Tropical Medicine(IFTM)and published by Elsevier.It is the only journal of tropical medicine included by SCI,Medline in China.It indicates APJTM has become one of the top international journals.Since the first issue in March 2008,it has been included by 12 international databases:Science Citation Index(SCI)     

Indexed in SCI Medline

<正>Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine(APJTM)is an international journal of tropical medicine that is edited by International Federation of Tropical Medicine(IFTM)and published by Elsevier.It is the only journal of tropical medicine included by SCI,Medline in China.It indicates APJTM has become one of the top international journals.Since the first issue in March 2008,it has been included by 12 international databases:     

Aims & Scope

正Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine(APJTM),aims to set up and provide an academic communicating platform for international physicians,medical scientists,allied health scientists and public health workers,especially those of the AsiaPacific region and worldwide on tropical medicine,infectious diseases and public health,and to meet the growing challenges of understanding,preventing and controlling the dramatic global emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases in the AsiaPacific region.