Imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study
Abstract Background We 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. Methods A retrospective chart review was perfor...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9e46151c68a84d29a76003643ab0e532 2023-05-15T15:12:02+02:00 Imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study Sofie Desmet Liesbet Henckaerts Sien Ombelet Benjamin Damanet Peter Vanbrabant 2023-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-023-00190-0 https://doaj.org/article/9e46151c68a84d29a76003643ab0e532 EN eng BMC https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-023-00190-0 https://doaj.org/toc/2055-0936 doi:10.1186/s40794-023-00190-0 2055-0936 https://doaj.org/article/9e46151c68a84d29a76003643ab0e532 Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2023) Travel medicine Communicable diseases Imported Malaria Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-023-00190-0 2023-03-26T01:33:52Z Abstract Background We 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. Methods A 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. Results A 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. Conclusion Systemic 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines 9 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Travel medicine Communicable diseases Imported Malaria Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
spellingShingle |
Travel medicine Communicable diseases Imported Malaria Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Sofie Desmet Liesbet Henckaerts Sien Ombelet Benjamin Damanet Peter Vanbrabant Imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study |
topic_facet |
Travel medicine Communicable diseases Imported Malaria Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
description |
Abstract Background We 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. Methods A 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. Results A 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. Conclusion Systemic 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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sofie Desmet Liesbet Henckaerts Sien Ombelet Benjamin Damanet Peter Vanbrabant |
author_facet |
Sofie Desmet Liesbet Henckaerts Sien Ombelet Benjamin Damanet Peter Vanbrabant |
author_sort |
Sofie Desmet |
title |
Imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study |
title_short |
Imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study |
title_full |
Imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study |
title_fullStr |
Imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study |
title_sort |
imported diseases in travellers presenting to the emergency department after a stay in a malaria-endemic country: a retrospective observational study |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-023-00190-0 https://doaj.org/article/9e46151c68a84d29a76003643ab0e532 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-023-00190-0 https://doaj.org/toc/2055-0936 doi:10.1186/s40794-023-00190-0 2055-0936 https://doaj.org/article/9e46151c68a84d29a76003643ab0e532 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40794-023-00190-0 |
container_title |
Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766342781059465216 |