-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Claire Y Mason, Daniel Stubbins, Gurjinder S Sandhu, Padmasayee Papineni, Pleuropulmonary and hepatic amoebic abscesses in a returning traveller, Journal of Travel Medicine, Volume 27, Issue 4, May 2020, taaa017, https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taaa017
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
A 24-year-old British man with no previous medical history presented directly from the airport on arrival in London, UK from Mexico. He had a 3-week history of fever, 10 kg weight loss, right pleuritic shoulder pain and dry cough. He had been backpacking in Colombia (Cartagena), Peru (Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu) and Mexico (Mexico City and Cancun) for the preceding 3 months. He was prescribed norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, metronidazole and diclofenac 2 weeks before in Mexico. Six weeks prior to his symptoms he had bloody diarrhoea while travelling in Peru.
Examination revealed: respiratory rate 28 breaths/min, pulse oximetry 98%, heart rate 180 beats/min, blood pressure 118/72 mmHg, temperature 38.7°C. There was reduced air entry at the right base and tender hepatomegaly.
Admission bloods were: haemoglobin 128 g/L (140–180 g/L), total white cell count 25.5 × 109/l (3.0–10.0 × 109/L), neutrophils 21.7 × 109/L (2.0–7.5 × 109/L), C-reactive protein 258 mg/L (<5 mg/L), creatinine 164 μmol/L (63–106 μmol/L), ALP 357 IU/L (30–130 IU/L), ALT 35 IU/L (10–50 IU/L), bilirubin 13 μmol/L (0–21 μmol/L) and slightly prolonged clotting time (international normalised ratio 1.5). HIV and viral hepatitis screens were negative.
