Febrile Illnesses

Abstract

Roughly 10% of travelers to developing countries experience a febrile illness during travel or on return. The likelihood of developing a medical condition during travel relates to an individual's past medical history, travel destination, duration of travel, level of accommodation, immunization history, adherence to indicated chemoprophylactic regimens, activities during travel, and history of exposure to infectious agents prior to and during travel. The risk for acquiring a tropical infection is primarily affected by the activities of the traveler. For example, immigrants from developing countries return home to visit friends and relatives (VFR) in their place of birth and usually don’t take preventive therapy for malaria. Long-term expatriates, on the other hand, have unique risk profiles. Fever is a leading reason for post travel consultation. Careful questioning of patients about the pattern of fever and associated symptoms is useful. Several papers around the world have reported data about returning travelers with fever. The Geosentinel has reviewed its data on 24,920 travelers from 1997 to 2006. They reported that 28% of returned travelers seen at clinics presented with fever as their chief reason for seeking medical care. Fever was a marker of a serious illness requiring hospitalization. In this report, causes of fever varied by region visited and by time of presentation after travel. The exposure history is crucial to the formulation of a differential diagnosis. Knowledge of infectious disease outbreaks like the novel H1N1 Influenza pandemics in a specific region where the patient has traveled is very helpful. Travelers to Latin America can be exposed to different infectious agents that can give a systemic febrile illness. The most common ones include respiratory tract infections, mononucleosis, dengue, malaria, and typhoid fever. Sometimes no specific cause is reported. Laboratory diagnosis has to be done promptly and efficaciously to avoid delays in treatment. Abstracts for SupplementInternational Journal of Infectious DiseasesVol. 14Preview Full-Text PDF Open Archive