Curriculum · Public Health and Communicable Diseases
Viral haemorrhagic fever in a returned traveller
What it is
Viral hemorrhagic fever is the clinical diagnosis to reach for when a returned traveler bleeds as well as burns. The hematological findings follow from endothelial injury, capillary leakage and increased permeability, which give third spacing and haemoconcentration, and from consumptive thrombocytopenia.
Causes and risk
Two microbiological causes are dengue and Crimean-Congo.
How it presents
The pattern is cyclical high-grade fever for 5 days with severe myalgia and pain behind the eyes, and gum bleeding with a new onset of rash over the last 2 days.