Travel-Associated Zika Virus Disease Acquired in the Americas Through February 2016: A GeoSentinel Analysis.

Background: Zika virus has spread rapidly in the Americas and has been imported into many nonendemic countries by travelers. Objective: To describe clinical manifestations and epidemiology of Zika virus disease in travelers exposed in the Americas. Design: Descriptive, using GeoSentinel records. Setting: 63 travel and tropical medicine clinics in 30 countries. Patients: Ill returned travelers with a confirmed, probable, or clinically suspected diagnosis of Zika virus disease seen between January 2013 and 29 February 2016. Measurements: Frequencies of demographic, trip, and clinical characteristics and complications. Results: Starting in May 2015, 93 cases of Zika virus disease were reported. Common symptoms included exanthema (88%), fever (76%), and arthralgia (72%). Fifty-nine percent of patients were exposed in South America; 71% were diagnosed in Europe. Case status was established most commonly by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of blood and less often by PCR testing of other body fluids or serology and plaque-reduction neutralization testing. Two patients developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, and 3 of 4 pregnancies had adverse outcomes (microcephaly, major fetal neurologic abnormalities, and intrauterine fetal death). Limitation: Surveillance data collected by specialized clinics may not be representative of all ill returned travelers, and denominator data are unavailable. Conclusion: These surveillance data help characterize the clinical manifestations and adverse outcomes of Zika virus disease among travelers infected in the Americas and show a need for global standardization of diagnostic testing. The serious fetal complications observed in this study highlight the importance of travel advisories and prevention measures for pregnant women and their partners. Travelers are sentinels for global Zika virus circulation and may facilitate further transmission. Primary Funding Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, International Society of Travel Medicine, and Public Health Agency of Canada.

Post-chikungunya rheumatic disorders in travelers after return from the Caribbean.

BACKGROUND: Due to increasing concerns about post-chikungunya (pCHIK) rheumatic disorders in Latin America we aimed to evaluate its occurrence in travelers returning to NYC from the Caribbean. METHOD: Patients diagnosed with chikungunya (CHIK) during 2014 at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center (Bronx, NewYork) were identified by reviewing laboratory and electronic medical records. Patients and caregivers of pediatric patients were interviewed by phone ≥9 months after the CHIK diagnosis to survey for chronic symptomatology and current health care needs. Reported chronic musculoskeletal complaints were categorized according to validated criteria. RESULTS: A total of 28 patients (54% females, median age [range] of 51.5 [0, 88] years) diagnosed with CHIK at our center were identified. Most (82%) had returned from the Dominican Republic. Nineteen (68%) patients were successfully contacted at a median (range) of 13 (9, 16) months since the acute diagnosis. A third (37%) reported ongoing complaints related to CHIK including joint pain (32%), muscle pain (32%), and joint swelling (26%). A presumptive diagnosis of pCHIK chronic inflammatory arthritis (n = 4) and pCHIK musculoskeletal disorder (n = 3) was established. CONCLUSIONS: A third of travelers with CHIK acquired in the Caribbean may be at risk for developing persistent symptoms suggestive of pCHIK rheumatic disorder.

Nephrotic-range proteinuria in an eight-year-old traveler with severe dengue: Case report and review of the literature.

We report a case of an eight-year-old male, native of the Dominican Republic, who visited the U.S. and was admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit with severe dengue. He needed aggressive fluid management for dengue shock syndrome and developed proteinuria on the sixth day of his illness, shortly after his nadir thrombocytopenia. His proteinuria peaked on the eight day, and reduced to trace levels by the tenth day of his illness, coinciding with normalization of his platelet count. His highest random urine protein/creatinine ratio was in the nephrotic range, at 3.9 g/g. Dengue fever can cause a wide spectrum of acute kidney injury (AKI), ranging in incidence from 0.9 to 36%. Review of the literature shows that nephrotic-range proteinuria is an uncommon complication of AKI caused by dengue, reported thus far only in Southeast Asia. Immune-mediated mechanisms may explain the observed association between dengue-induced thrombocytopenia and severe proteinuria, in this case, and previously reported cases. Dengue virus infection is the commonest mosquito-borne disease in the world with substantial morbidity and mortality. Well-designed prospective studies are needed to further characterize the extent and mechanisms of AKI in populations living in countries with ongoing transmission, as well as in those with travel-associated disease.