Etiology of Acute Undifferentiated Febrile Illness in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador

Abstract

We conducted a longitudinal observational study of 533 patients presenting to two hospitals in the Ecuadorean Amazon basin with acute undifferentiated febrile illness (AUFI) from 2001 through 2004. Viral isolation, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), IgM seroconversion, and malaria smears identified pathogens responsible for fever in 122 (40.1%) of 304 patients who provided both acute and convalescent blood samples. Leptospirosis was found in 40 (13.2%), malaria in 38 (12.5%), rickettsioses in 18 (5.9%), dengue fever in 16 (5.3%), Q fever in 15 (4.9%) brucellosis in 4 (1.3%), Ilheus infection in 3 (1.0%), and Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE), Oropouche, and St. Louis encephalitis virus infections in less than 1% of these patients. Viral isolation and RT-PCR on another 229 participants who provided only acute samples identified 3 cases of dengue fever, 2 of VEE, and 1 of Ilhheus. None of these pathogens, except for malaria, had previously been detected in the study area.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA534769

Entities

People

  • Brad K. Quist
  • James G. Olson
  • Jose L. Sanchez
  • Kathryn H. Jacobsen
  • Kevin L. Russell
  • Monica Negrete
  • Narcisa Brito De Bravo
  • Patrick J. Blair
  • Roger D. Smalligan
  • Stephen R. Manock

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Bacterial Infections
  • Dengue
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Encephalitis
  • Equine Encephalitis
  • Health Care
  • Health Services
  • Hospitals
  • Infection
  • Medical Personnel
  • Pain
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Public Health
  • Q Fever
  • Viruses

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Infectious Disease/Epidemiology
  • Vector-Borne Disease and Entomology
  • Virology (or Medical Virology).