Travel Illness

A physician with a special interest in the infectious diseases that people acquire while traveling, Dr. Kumud Verma M.D. sees patients through his private office in Delta, British Columbia. Before founding his practice, Dr. Kumud Verma earned his M.D. from the University of Manitoba.

When travelers visit a new country, sometimes they come home and get sick with an infection they acquired while abroad. The type and severity of the condition often depends on the countries to which patients traveled.

Research indicates that up to 64 percent of people who visit developing countries end up with travel-related illnesses. However, the vast majority of those illnesses are fairly mild, and only a small portion of those patients ultimately seek out medical care.

Over the past year, a major concern in travel health involves the rise of the Zika virus, a pathogen spread by a mosquito bite that has been linked to a serious birth defect called microcephaly. The Zika virus has appeared in popular destinations like Mexico and Brazil, the latter of which is host of the 2016 Summer Olympics.