Dengue fever in the Czech Republic.
BACKGROUND
Dengue fever has become, in Western Europe, the second most frequently imported disease after viral hepatitis A.


OBJECTIVE
Dengue fever was diagnosed at the Department of Infectious Disease, University Hospital in Brno, so the authors decided to make local physicians aware of the possibility of the disease being contracted by Czech travelers.


METHODS
The first two cases of dengue fever, with the patients hospitalized at the Department of Infectious Disease, University Hospital in Brno, Czech Republic, are described.


RESULTS
A young couple contracted this infection in a region usually visited by tourists in Thailand. The disease broke out 12 hours after their return home. The clinical and laboratory pictures of the disease and the kinetics of serological responses are described in detail.


CONCLUSIONS
The chief diagnostic clue with this disease, beside a visit to a high-risk area, can be considered a sudden onset of fever accompanied by marked fatigue, myalgia, and arthralgia. Laboratory tests showed characteristic thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and pathological values of AST and ALT. The clinical picture is characterized by symptoms of persisting fatigue and exhaustion, even after the fever has subsided.
Chalupa
P
P
Clinic of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital, Jihlavska 20, CZ-639 00 Brno, Czech Republic. pchalupa@fnbrno.cz
Kubek
J
J
Hejlova
A
A
D000328:Adult; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D003715:Dengue / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013785:Thailand; D014195:Travel