ABSTRACT
Hundreds of human cases of gnathostomiasis have recently been reported from Mexico, where the disease is becoming a public health problem. We report a case of gnathostomiasis in a French tourist returning from Mexico. Tourists travelling in endemic countries are at risk of gnathostomiasis and should be advised about the risks of eating raw fish as a suspected source of infection.
Subject(s)
Gnathostoma , Skin Diseases, Parasitic/diagnosis , Spirurida Infections/diagnosis , Travel , Adult , Animals , Female , Fishes/parasitology , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Mexico , Skin Diseases, Parasitic/transmission , Spirurida Infections/transmissionABSTRACT
Imported dengue is increasingly observed in non endemic countries. We report a retrospective study of 44 cases of dengue fever diagnosed in nine french university hospitals between 1994 and 1997. The patients were aged between 13 and 67 years. Most of them were tourists and had been traveling for a few weeks, in French West Indies and French Guyana (18), South-East Asia (10), India (7) or Polynesia (4). Only, two contracted the disease in Africa. The onset of symptoms preceded the return or followed it within 7 days. The most frequent clinical presentation was a febrile and painful syndrome. Cutaneous manifestations (rash or macular exanthem) were observed in 59% of cases, digestive symptoms in 50%, pharyngitis and/or cough in 25%, microadenopathy in 20%, moderate mucous haemorrhagic manifestations in 16% and neuropsychiatric manifestations in 14%. The common biological abnormalities were thrombocytopenia (84%), leukopenia (59%), and elevated transminases (57%). The diagnosis, orientated by negativity of malaria smears, the knowledge of an epidemic in the visited country, or occurrence of similar cases in the entourage, were argued by serological results: presence of anti-DEN IgM in 25 cases, serological conversion (anti- DEN IgG) in 7 cases or very high seropositivity (anti-DEN IgG > 1/1280) in 12 cases. No virus isolation was obtained.