RESUMO
We report two cases of louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) in young Somali asylum seekers having recently arrived to Finland. They had sought medical attention for a febrile illness. Blood smears were examined for suspected malaria, but instead, spirochete shaped bacteria were observed. The bacteria were confirmed as Borrelia recurrentis by PCR and sequencing. The patients survived, but their treatment was complicated by Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction. We conclude that LBRF must be considered as a diagnostic option in febrile refugees also in the northernmost parts of Europe.
Assuntos
Borrelia/isolamento & purificação , Infestações por Piolhos/complicações , Refugiados , Febre Recorrente/diagnóstico , Adulto , Animais , Sangue/microbiologia , Finlândia , Humanos , Masculino , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase , Febre Recorrente/tratamento farmacológico , Febre Recorrente/patologia , Análise de Sequência de DNA , Somália , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
Relapsing fewer is an infection to be considered in the differential diagnosis of an immigrant´s febrile illness. It is a severe, tick-borne or body louse-borne infection caused by the relapsing fever associated borrelia species. The body louse-borne infection is in particular encountered in the Horn of Africa region due to poor hygiene, and has during the past year been described in several European countries as imported by refugees coming from this region. Doctors should thus bear relapsing fever in mind as a differential diagnosis in a febrile refugee having recently arrived in Finland.