Imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study

Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines

Research

Peter Vanbrabant¹  Sofie Desmet¹  Liesbet Henckaerts²  Sien Ombelet³  Benjamin Damanet⁴ 

[1] Department of General Internal Medicine, KU Leuven, University Hospitals Leuven, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium;Department of General Internal Medicine, KU Leuven, University Hospitals Leuven, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium;Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, University Hospitals Leuven, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium;Department of Laboratory Medicine, KU Leuven, University Hospitals Leuven, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium;School of Public Health, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium;National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (NIHDI), Brussels, Belgium;

关键词: Travel medicine;    Communicable diseases;    Imported;    Malaria;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40794-023-00190-0

 received in 2022-02-27, accepted in 2023-02-06,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWe aimed to investigate the aetiology and outcomes of illnesses in patients presenting to an emergency department after travelling to a malaria-endemic country, in order to raise awareness of both tropical and cosmopolitan diseases.MethodsA retrospective chart review was performed for all patients who underwent blood smear testing for malaria at the Emergency Department of the University Hospitals Leuven from 2017 to 2020. Patient characteristics, results of laboratory and radiological examinations, diagnoses, disease course and outcome were collected and analysed.ResultsA total of 253 patients were included in the study. The majority of ill travellers returned from Sub-Saharan Africa (68.4%) and Southeast Asia (19.4%). Their diagnoses fell into three major syndrome categories: systemic febrile illness (30.8%), inflammatory syndrome of unknown origin (23.3%) and acute diarrhoea (18.2%). Malaria (15.8%) was the most common specific diagnosis in patients with systemic febrile illness, followed by influenza (5.1%), rickettsiosis (3.2%), dengue (1.6%), enteric fever (0.8%), chikungunya (0.8%) and leptospirosis (0.8%). The presence of hyperbilirubinemia and thrombocytopenia increased the probability of malaria, with a likelihood ratio of 4.01 and 6.03, respectively. Seven patients (2.8%) were treated in the intensive care unit, and none died.ConclusionSystemic febrile illness, inflammatory syndrome of unknown origin and acute diarrhoea were the three major syndromic categories in returning travellers presenting to our emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country. Malaria was the most common specific diagnosis in patients with systemic febrile illness. None of the patients died.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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