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. 2012 Jan;86(1):16-22.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2012.11-0427.

A cluster of dengue cases in American missionaries returning from Haiti, 2010

Tyler M Sharp  1 , Parvathy Pillai, Elizabeth Hunsperger, Gilberto A Santiago, Teresa Anderson, Trina Vap, Jeremy Collinson, Bryan F Buss, Thomas J Safranek, Mark J Sotir, Emily S Jentes, Jorge L Munoz-Jordan, D Fermin Arguello
Affiliations

A cluster of dengue cases in American missionaries returning from Haiti, 2010

Tyler M Sharp et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2012 Jan.

Abstract

Dengue is an acute febrile illness caused by four mosquito-borne dengue viruses (DENV-1 to -4) that are endemic throughout the tropics. After returning from a 1-week missionary trip to Haiti in October of 2010, 5 of 28 (18%) travelers were hospitalized for dengue-like illness. All travelers were invited to submit serum specimens and complete questionnaires on pre-travel preparations, mosquito avoidance practices, and activities during travel. DENV infection was confirmed in seven (25%) travelers, including all travelers that were hospitalized. Viral sequencing revealed closest homology to a 2007 DENV-1 isolate from the Dominican Republic. Although most (88%) travelers had a pre-travel healthcare visit, only one-quarter knew that dengue is a risk in Haiti, and one-quarter regularly used insect repellent. This report confirms recent DENV transmission in Haiti. Travelers to DENV-endemic areas should receive dengue education during pre-travel health consultations, follow mosquito avoidance recommendations, and seek medical care for febrile illness during or after travel.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Phylogeny of DENV-1 isolated from five missionary travelers that visited Haiti in October of 2010. Each taxon represents a single virus isolate and is labeled with the geographical origin and collection year; an additional specimen identifier is also included in specimens isolated from travelers to Haiti. Eighteen E gene sequences obtained from GenBank were included to support tree topology and identify genotypes. Three major genotypes are marked by brackets: American/African, South Pacific, and Asian. Taxa labels and GenBank accession numbers are available in Supplemental Table 1.
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