Travel‐Related Leptospirosis: A Series of 15 Imported Cases

Werve, Charlotte van de; Pérignon, Alice; Jauréguiberry, Stéphane; Bricaire, François; Bourhy, P.; Caumes, Éric

doi:10.1111/jtm.12035

Cited by 25 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…With increasing popularity of tourism in tropical areas, 32 including active, environmental exposures like rafting, canoeing, and triathlons, the risk of leptospirosis acquisition among travelers may be increasing, as illustrated in previous case reports. 37,41,42 Known high-risk areas, such as Southeast Asia and Central America, were the most common regions of exposure in our database. The top countries where leptospirosis was acquired, Thailand, Costa Rica and Laos, are not necessarily known to be most endemic, 1,43 but rather have higher numbers of travelers who are potentially engaged in freshwater recreational activities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…32 With travelers being increasingly engaged in high-risk recreational activities, such as white-water rafting, 33 growing numbers of travelers with leptospirosis returning from tropical countries have been reported. 4,31,[33][34][35][36][37] In a GeoSentinel analysis (1996-2011) of acute and potentially life-threatening tropical disease among 3,666 ill travelers from higher resource areas, leptospirosis was the fourth most common diagnosis. 38 Here, we describe the epidemiology of leptospirosis among travelers reported to the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network since its inception more than 20 years ago (January 1997 until December 31, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Leptospirosis among Returned Travelers: A GeoSentinel Site Survey and Multicenter Analysis—1997–2016

Vries¹,

Visser

Stoney³

et al. 2018

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Leptospirosis is a potentially fatal emerging zoonosis with worldwide distribution and a broad range of clinical presentations and exposure risks. It typically affects vulnerable populations in (sub)tropical countries but is increasingly reported in travelers as well. Diagnostic methods are cumbersome and require further improvement. Here, we describe leptospirosis among travelers presenting to the GeoSentinel Global Surveillance Network. We performed a descriptive analysis of leptospirosis cases reported in GeoSentinel from January 1997 through December 2016. We included 180 travelers with leptospirosis (mostly male; 74%; mostly tourists; 81%). The most frequent region of infection was Southeast Asia (52%); the most common source countries were Thailand ( = 52), Costa Rica ( = 13), Indonesia, and Laos ( = 11 each). Fifty-nine percent were hospitalized; one fatality was reported. We also distributed a supplemental survey to GeoSentinel sites to assess clinical and diagnostic practices. Of 56 GeoSentinel sites, three-quarters responded to the survey. Leptospirosis was reported to have been most frequently considered in febrile travelers with hepatic and renal abnormalities and a history of freshwater exposure. Serology was the most commonly used diagnostic method, although convalescent samples were reported to have been collected infrequently. Within GeoSentinel, leptospirosis was diagnosed mostly among international tourists and caused serious illness. Clinical suspicion and diagnostic workup among surveyed GeoSentinel clinicians were mainly triggered by a classical presentation and exposure history, possibly resulting in underdiagnosis. Suboptimal usage of available diagnostic methods may have resulted in additional missed, or misdiagnosed, cases.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leptospirosis among Returned Travelers: A GeoSentinel Site Survey and Multicenter Analysis—1997–2016

Vries¹,

Visser

Stoney³

et al. 2018

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…calculated as the number of cases imported from each area/total number of imported cases (n=88)), central America (17%) and the Caribbean (8%) [7]. Leptospirosis is increasingly seen in returning travellers [8], mainly due to an increase in the number of people who participate in outdoor recreational activities [9]. Other described risk factors are accidental submersion in potentially contaminated fresh water [10] and travelling in periods of excess rainfall [11].…”

Section: Potential Risk Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two cases of laboratory-confirmed leptospirosis in travellers returning to Spain from Thailand, September 2013

Calvo-Cano

Aldasoro

Ramírez³

et al. 2014

Eurosurveillance

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In September 2013, leptospirosis was diagnosed in two Spanish travellers returning from Thailand. The first case walked in floodwater in the Phi Phi Islands in pouring rain: 20 days later he presented with fever and acute hepatitis. The second presented with fever and renal failure 17 days after visiting the islands. These cases remind clinicians to consider leptospirosis in febrile patients with a history of contact with flood or fresh water while travelling to tropical countries.

show abstract

“…They lived in large cities abroad and their lifestyles and disease exposure profiles were rather similar to those of Western citizens. Some people who enter Western countries are not immigrants, but alien visitors, and some of them are sick [33][34][35][36] . Of note, a large proportion of those visitors originate from countries with a high incidence and prevalence of communicable diseases.…”

Section: T R O P I C a L S K I N I N F E C T I O N S O F Immigrantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Pi閞ard¹,

Hermanns

Pi閞ard-Franchimont

2016

Journal of Dermatological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bacterial and fungal skin infections are common in tropical medicine. They represent a spectrum of diseases somewhat different from the presentations seen in temperate and cooler climates. Some are typically exotic and confined to specific geoclimatic regions. Other more common conditions have different rates of prevalence according to regional effects. Travelers coming back from tropical regions and immigrants from these geoclimatic environments possibly transfer such dermatoses to Western residents. The global warming climate change in the world progressively alters some regional distributions of arthropod-borne-infectious diseases. The future must be framed by considering such world climatic changes responsible for progressive migration of vector-transmitted diseases inside temperate geoclimatic regions. Crowds of immigrants from warring regions eventually represent a distinct population at risk for other groups of dermatoses.

show abstract

Travel‐Related Leptospirosis: A Series of 15 Imported Cases

Cited by 25 publications

References 17 publications

Leptospirosis among Returned Travelers: A GeoSentinel Site Survey and Multicenter Analysis—1997–2016

Leptospirosis among Returned Travelers: A GeoSentinel Site Survey and Multicenter Analysis—1997–2016

Two cases of laboratory-confirmed leptospirosis in travellers returning to Spain from Thailand, September 2013

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

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About