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Common Dermatologic Conditions in Returning Travelers

  • Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Returning Travelers from the Tropics (C Franco-Paredes, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Travel medicine practitioners often are confronted with returning travelers with dermatologic disorders that could be of infectious causes or inflammatory or allergic. Some dermatologic processes are the result of exposure to insects or acquired due to environmental exposures. There is a broad range of dermatosis of infectious and non-infectious etiologies that clinicians need to consider in the differential diagnosis of dermatosis in travelers

Recent Findings

With increasing international travel to tropical destinations, many individuals may be exposed to rickettsia (i.e., African tick bite fever, scrub typhus, or Mediterranean spotted fever), parasitic infections (i.e., cutaneous larva migrans, cutaneous leishmaniasis, African trypanosomiasis, or American trypanosomiasis), viral infections (i.e., measles or Zika virus infection), bacterial (i.e., Buruli ulcer) or ectoparasites (scabies or tungiasis), and myiasis. Cutaneous lesions provide clinical clues to the diagnosis of specific exposures during travel among returned travelers.

Summary

Dermatologic disorders represent the third most common health problem in returned travelers, after gastrointestinal and respiratory illness. Many of these conditions may pose a risk of severe complications if there is any delay in diagnosis. Therefore, clinicians caring for travelers need to become familiar with the most frequent infectious and non-infectious skin disorders in travelers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, 12700 East 19th Avenue, 11C01, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Zachary Shepard, Andrés F. Henao-Martínez & Carlos Franco-Paredes

  2. Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Panamá

    Margarita Rios

  3. School of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, 12700 East 19th Avenue, 11C01, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Jamie Solis & Taylor Wand

  4. Investigador SNI Senacyt Panamá, Clinical Research Department, Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panamá City, Panamá

    José Antonio Suarez

Authors
  1. Zachary Shepard
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  2. Margarita Rios
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  3. Jamie Solis
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  4. Taylor Wand
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  5. Andrés F. Henao-Martínez
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  6. Carlos Franco-Paredes
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  7. José Antonio Suarez
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Correspondence to José Antonio Suarez.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Returning Travelers from the Tropics

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Shepard, Z., Rios, M., Solis, J. et al. Common Dermatologic Conditions in Returning Travelers. Curr Trop Med Rep 8, 104–111 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40475-021-00231-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40475-021-00231-8

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