A Prospective, Multi-Year Analysis of Illness and Injury During Summer Travel to Arid Environments

Herein we describe results from the first ever prospective study of the hazards of travel in an arid environment. We observed that there are patterns of injury and illness that are consistent across expeditions to the Gobi Desert. For example, while heat- and wind-exposure-related illness and injury in the desert are quite common, other aspects of the desert environment are very forgiving. Perhaps the most interesting finding in our cohort was the degree to which different problems occurred at different stages of the expeditions. Our data sets suggest several future studies to evaluate patterns of illness and injury and could be an asset to recreational travelers and religious pilgrims, as well as to those sending employees to extreme environments.