Background: As international travel for business and pleasure becomes part of contemporary lifestyle, the clinician today is confronted with an increasing number of travelers returning ill with unfamiliar syndromes. The physician will encounter a myriad of patients with exotic infections, emerging infectious diseases, or resurgent Old-World infections.
Review summary: This review article will discuss salient points of important infectious diseases associated with overseas travel, provide a syndromic approach to the traveler who returns with neurologic manifestations, and list resources for additional diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive information.
Conclusions: As many of infections acquired in other countries can directly or indirectly affect the nervous system, the care of the ill traveler often falls into the hands of neurologists. The contemporary neurologist should therefore be knowledgeable of the clinical manifestations, potential complications, and appropriate management of region-specific infections.