Neglected Tropical Diseases outside the Tropics

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) have been targeted due to their prevalence and the burden of disease they cause globally, but there has been no significant focus in the literature on the subject of NTDs as a group in immigrants and travelers, and no specific studies on the emerging phenomenon of imported NTDs. We present the experience of a Tropical Medicine Unit in a major European city, over a 19-year period, describing and comparing NTDs diagnosed amongst immigrants, travelers and travelers visiting friends and relatives (VFRs). NTDs were diagnosed outside tropical areas and occurred more frequently in immigrants, followed by VFR travelers and then by other travelers. The main NTDs diagnosed in immigrants were onchocerciasis, Chagas disease and ascariasis; most frequent NTDs in travelers were schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis and ascariasis, and onchocerciasis and schistosomiasis in VFRs. Issues focusing on modes of transmission outside endemic areas and how eradication programs for some NTDs in endemic countries may have an impact in non-tropical Western countries by decreasing disease burden in immigrants, are addressed. Adherence to basic precautions such as safe consumption of food/water and protection against arthropod bites could help prevent many NTDs in travelers

Spontaneous recovery from anti-NMDAR encephalitis

Encephalitis associated with antibodies (Abs) to the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) can occur in a paraneoplastic or non-paraneoplastic form. We report a young woman with non-paraneoplastic anti-NMDAR encephalitis who experienced spontaneous recovery