We observed that HAPE proportionate morbid-ity was higher in older than younger ill travelers.
Also, the proportion of lower respiratory infections
in travelers suffering HAPE was only 12% in older
individuals and 17% in the younger group in our study.
While several earlier investigations in Nepal and else-where concluded that older age might be protective
against altitude illness,
21–23
recent studies challenge
these conclusions.
24,25
We conclude that older travelers
to high-altitude destinations presented to GeoSentinel
clinics comparatively more frequently than younger
travelers, and that these data were not attributable
to concomitant respiratory infection. We propose that
older travelers have pre-travel cardiologic assessment
for high-altitude travel and strictly apply prevention
measures when undergoing a high-altitude trip by
progressive acclimatization to altitude and use of aceta-zolamide.
Whilemosquito bites weremore frequently reported
in older travelers, febrile, systemic mosquito-borne
illnesses like malaria and dengue were less frequent
reasons for presentation in older ill travelers. We have
no explanation for this paradoxical finding. SevereP
falciparum malaria, however, was comparatively more