Dermatoses Associated with Travel to Tropical Countries: A Prospective Study of the Diagnosis and Management of 269 Patients Presenting to a Tropical Disease Unit

Abstract

The full spectrum of skin diseases related to travel in tropical areas is unknown. We prospectively studied 269 consecutive patients with travel-associated dermatosis who presented to our tropical disease unit in Paris during a 2-year period. The median age of these patients was 30 years; 137 patients were male; 76% of the patients were tourists; 38% had visited sub-Saharan Africa; and 85% had been appropriately vaccinated against tetanus. Cutaneous lesions appeared while the patient was still abroad in 61% of cases and after the patient's return to France in 39%. The diagnosis was definite in 260 cases; 137 of these cases (53%) involved an imported tropical disease. The most common diagnoses were cutaneous larva migrans (25%); pyodermas (18%); pruritic arthropod-reactive dermatitis (10%); myiasis (9%); tungiasis (6%); urticaria (5%); fever and rash (4%); and cutaneous leishmaniasis (3%). Hospitalization was necessary in 27 cases (10%), with a median duration of 5 days (range, 2-21 days). Travelers should be advised on how to avoid exposure to the agents and vectors of infectious dermatoses. Travel first-aid kits should include insect repellents and antibiotics effective against bacterial skin infections.

Outbreak of cutaneous larva migrans in a group of travellers

“…Other studies have also documented the occurrence of the itchy and serpiginous patterns in Ͼ 90% of cases. Our description of blisters in 40.6% of cases was higher than previously reported (9-10%) (Caumes et al 1995) (Davies et al 1993). One patient (our index case) had such large bulbous lesions under one foot that she could not bear weight on that side.…”

“…Most of the data available regarding the clinical manifestations of this syndrome has been gathered from individual case reports and case series of individual patients presenting to specialized tropical medicine clinics over periods of years (Davies et al 1993;Jelinek et al 1994;Caumes et al 1995). It is unknown to what extent these data are representative of all patients with this syndrome, nor has it been confirmed which risk factors and behaviours predispose to the infection.…”

Leishmaniasis in travelers: A literature review

“…International travelers are increasingly involved in adventure travel and outdoor activities, which render them at increased risk of contracting leishmaniasis [18,41,69]. CL and ML are emerging among travelers involved in outdoor activities in endemic areas, and are part of the top 10 diseases causing dermatological abnormalities among tourists returning from tropical countries [25]. Furthermore, a significant number of VL cases have been reported among travelers in recent years [18,28,29,37].…”

Imported Skin Infections from Tropical Regions by Travelers and Immigrants to the Belgian Mosan Region

“…Most lifelong Western residents traveling to tropical countries lack adequate immune protection against a series of nearly ubiquitous communicable diseases. Therefore, travelers are commonly exposed to the risk of infectious dermatoses prevailing in tropical areas [22,23] . Such diseases correspond to both ubiquitous communicable dermatoses and typical tropical disorders encountered outside Western countries [24] .…”