IMPORTED RELAPSING FEVER IN EUROPEAN TOURISTS

Two 'imported' cases of relapsing fever after a trip through Senegal a re described. Two women developed a tick-borne relapsing fever after h aving slept outdoors on a terrace in Zinguichor, Senegal. The first pa tient was rapidly cured after a course of doxycycline. The second pati ent initially received erythromycin, but despite this treatment she de veloped neurological symptoms and Borrelia persisted in the thick-smea r examination. After treatment with doxycycline she developed a Jarish -Herxheimer reaction. Treatment with doxycycline was continued and fin ally all symptoms disappeared within 36 hours after starting this trea tment. A diagnosis of relapsing fever should be considered in all pati ents returning from the tropics with recurrent fever, especially if no malaria parasites are found.