Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is a disease caused by Rickettsia conorii and transmitted by the brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus. It is widely distributed through southern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It is an emerging or a reemerging disease in some regions. Countries of the Mediterranean basin, such as Portugal, have noticed an increased incidence of MSF over the past 10 years. It was believed that MSF was a benign disease associated with a mortality rate of 1-3% before the antimicrobial drug era. It was called benign summer typhus. Severe forms were described in 1981, and the mortality rate reached 32% in Portugal in 1997. However, neurological manifestations associated with brain lesions are a rare event. We describe the case of a man with fever, maculopapular rash, a black spot, and hemisensory loss including the face on the left side of the body with brain lesions in the imaging studies.

Fifteen years after the initial detection of Rickettsia slovaca in ticks in Portugal, 3 autochthonous cases of R. slovaca infection were diagnosed in humans. All patients had an eschar on the scalp and lymphadenopathy; 2 patients had facial edema. R. slovaca infection was confirmed by serologic testing, culture, and PCR.

We describe the case of a 14-year-old Caucasian male, a resident in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who was observed in Portugal with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria with high-level parasitemia and severe thrombocytopenia. The course was complicated by bilateral sixth cranial nerve palsy during acute malaria, followed by the appearance of delayed cerebellar ataxia during the recovery phase. This occurred after successful treatment with quinine plus doxycycline over seven days. Different levels of thrombocytopenia and C-reactive protein were observed during both neurologic events in the presence of HRP-2 positive tests for Plasmodium falciparum antigen. The patient recovered completely after three months.

Hepatitis E infection is usually a self-limiting disease. In industrialized countries, sporadic cases of acute hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections have been described; their number seems to be increasing in European countries. We report the first human case of autochthonous acute hepatitis E confirmed in Portugal. Patients with acute non-A-C hepatitis should be tested for HEV in Portugal and hepatitis E infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexplained hepatitis cases.

No abstract