Multicenter GeoSentinel analysis of rickettsial diseases in international travelers, 1996-2008

Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 Nov;15(11):1791-8. doi: 10.3201/eid1511.090677.

Abstract

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.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Communicable Diseases, Emerging / diagnosis
  • Communicable Diseases, Emerging / epidemiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Internationality
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Population Surveillance
  • Rickettsia Infections / diagnosis
  • Rickettsia Infections / epidemiology*
  • Risk Factors
  • Travel*
  • Young Adult