Now, more than ever, America is a citizen in a global village. This places the medical professional in a position of no longer needing to be aware of just local diseases, but also becoming competent in dealing with imported illnesses. With increasing globalization of trade and easier means of crossing borders via air travel, local epidemics in a small part of the world can swiftly become global catastrophes. In the past century, the great winged vector of human disease has metamorphosed from the mosquito to an airliner, allowing greatly compressed speed of disease transmission throughout long distances.

As families elect to take exotic vacations or perhaps visit relatives in developing countries, the challenge arises to keep children safe from infections rarely encountered in the United States. Additionally, with increasing globalization comes a larger immigrant and refugee population, necessitating the acquisition of new skills in delivering culturally competent care.

This issue of Pediatric Annals provides six excellent reviews of topics more timely today than ever before. Consideration of the contents of this issue will better prepare the pediatric provider to serve as a resource to families considering travel abroad, as well as to improve diagnostic acumen when delivering care to families returning from travel.