Multicenter GeoSentinel analysis of rickettsial diseases in international travelers, 1996-2008.
We investigated epidemiologic and clinical aspects of rickettsial diseases in 280 international travelers reported to the GeoSentinel surveillance Network during 1996-2008. Of these 280 travelers, 231 (82.5%) had spotted fever (SFG) rickettsiosis, 16 (5.7%) scrub typhus, 11 (3.9%) Q fever, 10 (3.6%) typhus group (TG) rickettsiosis, 7 (2.5%) bartonellosis, 4 (1.4%) indeterminable SFG/TG rickettsiosis, and 1 (0.4%) human granulocytic anaplasmosis. One hundred ninety-seven (87.6%) SFG rickettsiosis cases were acquired in sub-Saharan Africa and were associated with higher age, male gender, travel to southern Africa, late summer season travel, and travel for tourism. More than 90% of patients with rickettsial disease were treated with doxycycline, 43 (15.4%) were hospitalized, and 4 had a complicated course, including 1 fatal case of scrub typhus encephalitis acquired in Thailand.
Jensenius
Mogens
M
Department of Infectious Diseases, Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål, NO-0407 Oslo, Norway. mogens.jensenius@ioks.uio.no
Davis
Xiaohong
X
von Sonnenburg
Frank
F
Schwartz
Eli
E
Keystone
Jay S
JS
Leder
Karin
K
Lopéz-Véléz
Rogelio
R
Caumes
Eric
E
Cramer
Jakob P
JP
Chen
Lin
L
Parola
Philippe
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014195:Travel; D055815:Young Adult