Illness in a Traveller - Quick Reference
This is a Quick Reference article. See also the main article Fever in a returning traveller Fever in a Returning Traveller.
Causes
- Primary disease activated or worsened while on travel
- New illness started while on travel, independent of destination
- A disease that is rare in the home country but typical for the destination, usually an infection
- Travel history (travel destinations and times)
- Symptoms and their onset dates in chronological order
- Exposure to infections (sexual contacts, dubious food, injections, insect stings, animal contacts, contact with freshwater)
- Possible abuse of alcohol or drugs
- Medication and possible treatment received during the travel
- Vaccinations
- Antimalarial medication and its regularity
- Symptoms in travel companions
Investigations
- Respiratory tract, consciousness, cutaneous symptoms, diarrhoea, urinary tract symptoms
- Malaria specimen always when the possibility of malaria cannot be reliably excluded (destination, reliably conducted prophylactic medication, another obvious diagnosis explaining the symptoms - malaria still possible)
- Basic investigations: basic blood count, CRP, ALT, urine sample
- At discretion: plasma Na, K, creatinine, faecal bacteria and parasites, chest x-ray, possible antibody tests
Fever in a traveller
- The possibility of malaria Diagnosis and Treatment of Malaria must always be kept in mind, even if the patient appears to be in good condition when examined.
- Further care must immediately be arranged for a seriously ill patient.
- Fever without local symptoms
- Fever and pulmonary symptoms
- Fever and cerebral symptoms
- Fever and diarrhoea Acute Diarrhoeal Disease in a Traveller
- Fever and jaundice
- Fever and skin rash
- Primary HIV infection
- Various bacterial and viral infections
- Allergic conditions (foods, drugs)
- Stings and bites
- Sunburns