The returned traveller

Abstract

The most urgently life-threatening conditions in returned travellers are falciparum malaria, leptospirosis and Legionnaires' disease. Early treatment of life-threatening infection is vital and circumstantial evidence often justifies treatment before the diagnosis can be confirmed. Reference to incubation periods is helpful in diagnosing conditions that are rarely or never acquired in the UK. Primary HIV infection is increasingly recognised as a cause of fever in returned travellers. HIV testing should readily be offered.