Cosmopolitan infections are the leading cause of fever in French children returning from tropical and subtropical areas. However, all febrile children who have returned from an endemic area should be tested for malaria.

Febrile exanthema is a common symptom in returning travelers. In addition to cosmopolitan diseases, etiologies specific to the visited country must be considered. As an accurate diagnosis is important, clinical suspicion should be confirmed by laboratory tests. The case reports of three brothers returning from Indonesia highlight the possibility of misdiagnosis due to the clinical similarity and serological cross reactivity of dengue fever and measles.