Perspectives: Why Guidelines Differ Numerous international,
national, and professional organizations publish guidelines and
recommendations that assist travel health providers in providing
the best possible advice to prospective travelers. The CDC
Yellow Book is one example of published recommendations.
However, it is quickly apparent to both clinicians and patients
that guidelines and recommendations differ, sometimes
dramatically. Conflicting messages from authoritative sources
may confuse patients and clinicians, and undermine the
credibility of the source. It can be unsettling for patients to
receive travel medicine advice, vaccines, and a malaria
prescription from a provider, only to find that the
recommendations conflict with what they have obtained from other
sources, or even heard from other advisors. The skillful travel
health provider will be able to help the traveler run this
gauntlet of conflicting advice by knowing more about why
guidelines differ. HOW ARE GUIDELINES CREATED? Most guidelines
of i