42 Murine typhus

was also confirmed in a Czech traveler after his return from Egypt.43 The patient was suffering from fever lasting for 4 days, strong headache, dry cough, and on the 7th and 8th day he appeared with find more transient maculopapular rash. The fever dropped after 15 days when doxycycline was given and no response was observed to the previously administered antibiotics—amoxicillin/clavulanate, clarithromycin, and ofloxacin. This was the first documented case of R typhi infection in Egypt and confirmed the previous sero-epidemic studies which proposed that murine typhus was probably endemic in this country.44 Moreover, in Cyprus, although to date many cases of murine typhus have been described, the first identification was done in a Swede who developed fever, severe headache, myalgia, Peptide 17 ic50 and rash.45 Three weeks before the onset of the symptoms she had stayed in a hotel in Cyprus where she got numerous bites from insects in her bed. The patient was treated with ciprofloxacin; her

condition improved remarkably within 24 hours after the start of the treatment and was afebrile within 3 days.45 A case of murine typhus was reported in Florence in 1991 in a person who was reportedly bitten by an unidentified insect during a trip to Sicily about 2 weeks before the onset of symptoms.34 Besides tropical areas where murine typhus is known as a frequent cause of fever of unknown origin, the Mediterranean area has also been considered as a risk area for travelers. As a result, clinicians who may see patients returning from the Mediterranean area should be aware that murine typhus

is present in this area and considered as an R typhi infection in differential diagnosis of patients with febrile illnesses. The authors state they have no conflicts of interest to declare. “
“We read with interest the article by Houdon and colleagues1 reporting two patients with imported acute neuroschistosmiasis due to Schistosoma mansoni. Both patients presented with neurological signs revealing acute schistosomiasis (AS), others and the diagnosis of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) was raised to explain these symptoms. However, the diagnosis of eosinophilia-induced cerebral vasculitis appears to be more likely than that of ADEM for many reasons: patient’s histories (which started with neurological signs), clinical presentation (association with other signs), high eosinophilia (1900 and 2100/mm3, respectively), and the brain magnetic resonance imaging aspects (suggesting border zone infarcts). Indeed, ADEM is considered as a postinfectious disorder because it is usually preceded (7–14 days, 2 days to 4 weeks, according to the authors) by a febrile episode (or an antigenic challenge), most commonly related to a viral or bacterial infection (mostly nonspecific upper respiratory tract infection) or sometimes a vaccination.