Global Travelers Flashcards
classic clinical triad for all species of malaria
Malaria hits FaST
F - ever
S - plenomegaly
T - hrombocytopenia
Fever is typically irregular for the first week and later may be periodic.
Patients usually have continuous symptoms initially followed by episodic pyrexia every 2 to 3 days, depending on the infecting species
 Malaria
Diagnosis is based on clinical presentation then confirmed with laboratory evidence of bloodborne protozoa
Malaria
presents after a typically short incubation period of 4 to 7 days with sudden high fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, severe myalgias (hence the term “break bone fever”), and rash usually lasting several days. Facial flushing, conjunctival injection (although uncommon), and retro-orbital pain can occur. After defervescence, a fine, pale, morbilliform rash develops on the trunk and spreads to the extremities and face.
 Dengue fever 
begins with fever and myalgias. After 2 to 7 days, as pyrexia improves, lassitude, fatigue, and shock develop with an ensuing mortality that is >10%. Clinical features include pleural effusions and bleeding diathesis
Severe dengue or dengue hemorrhagic fever
Once malaria is excluded, _____________ is commonly the cause of a febrile illness lasting >10 days
Typhoid fever
classically begins with fever and headache and then progresses to high fever with chills, headache, cough, abdominal distention, myalgias, constipation, and prostration. In epidemics, patients can present with acute diarrhea and vomiting, headache, and meningeal signs. However, 30% of patients present with constipation rather than diarrhea.17 Bradycardia relative to fever is classic (but may be absent); after several days of fever, a pale red macular rash may appear on the trunk (rose spots) among fair-skinned indi- viduals. As the disease progresses, splenomegaly develops
Typhoid fever
Current treatment recommendations for typhoid fever
fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin)
cephalosporins (cefixime and ceftriaxone)
azithromycin
duration of treatment dependent on severity of illness
papule at the bite site. The papule later becomes necrotic and forms a crusted black “tache noire” eschar. As organisms disseminate, patients develop fever, malaise, headache, lymphadenopathy, and splenomegaly.
Scrub typhus
less severe symptoms and localized lymphade nopathy associated with an eschar. Diagnosis is clinical, and serologic tests are confirmator
African tick typhus
rickettsial louse-borne disease caused by Rickettsia prowazekii
Typhus (Epidemic Louse-Borne Typhus)
high fevers after an 8- to 12-day incubation period. Severe headache is common, and a maculopapular rash appears between days 4 and 7, generally sparing palms and soles. The rash may be hemorrhagic. Diagnosis starts on clinical grounds and is confirmed with serologic testing.
Typhus (Epidemic Louse-Borne Typhus
clinical course can be asymptomatic, but often symptoms illus- trate a biphasic pattern. After an incubation of 2 days to 4 weeks, symp- toms may include high fever, severe headache, chills, myalgias, hepatitis (with or without jaundice), and nonspecific influenza-like complaints. Notable is conjunctival injection without purulent discharge.
LEPTOSPIROSIS
Leptospirosis treatment
Mild disease can be treated within the first 3 days of illness with PO amoxicillin or doxy- cycline, whereas more severe cases require IV penicillin, ceftriaxone, or ampicillin. Treatment duration is 7 to 14 days. Consider empiric therapy with PO doxycycline or IV penicillin (or ampicillin) when suspecting leptospirosis.
Transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. Symptoms may include conjunctivitis, headache, joint pain, fever, and malaise. Although does not commonly pose a serious threat to those infected, it has been associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Zika