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Experimental Human Pneumococcal Carriage
Published on: February 15, 2013
[Fever in returned travelers].
1The Center for Geographic Medicine, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel and the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. leshem@gmail.com
Harefuah
|February 10, 2011
Summary
Fever in returned travelers is common and challenging, ranging from mild to life-threatening infections. Malaria is the most frequent cause of undifferentiated fever in this group and must be ruled out.
Area of Science:
- Infectious Diseases
- Travel Medicine
- Public Health
Background:
- Fever is a frequent complaint among returned travelers, representing a significant diagnostic challenge.
- Febrile illnesses in travelers can range from self-limiting infections to rapidly progressive, lethal diseases.
- Differential diagnosis includes cosmopolitan and tropical infections like malaria, dengue, and enteric fever.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline the diagnostic approach for fever in returned travelers.
- To highlight the importance of considering geographic origin and potential exposures.
- To emphasize the urgent need to identify and treat life-threatening infections, particularly malaria.
Main Methods:
- Review of common and tropical febrile illnesses in travelers.
- Emphasis on clinical presentation, geographic exposure, and incubation periods.
- Importance of laboratory work-up and prompt diagnosis of critical infections.
Main Results:
- Undifferentiated fever in returned travelers is a large diagnostic group.
- Malaria is the most common specific pathogen identified in febrile returned travelers.
- Focal signs and symptoms aid in differential diagnosis, but undifferentiated fever requires careful evaluation.
Conclusions:
- A systematic approach considering travel history, incubation period, and exposure is crucial.
- Urgent evaluation for treatable, transmissible, and severe infections is paramount.
- Malaria must be excluded in any febrile traveler returning from endemic areas.
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