Causes of Fever in Rural Southern Laos

Mayxay M., Sengvilaipaseuth O., Chanthongthip A., Dubot-Pérès A., Rolain J-M., Parola P., Craig SB., Tulsiani S., Burns M-A., Khanthavong M., Keola S., Pongvongsa T., Raoult D., Dittrich S., Newton PN.

The etiology of fever in rural Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) has remained obscure until recently owing to the lack of laboratory facilities. We conducted a study to determine the causes of fever among 229 patients without malaria in Savannakhet Province, southern Laos; 52% had evidence of at least one diagnosis (45% with single and 7% with apparent multiple infections). Among patients with only one diagnosis, dengue (30.1%) was the most common, followed by leptospirosis (7.0%), Japanese encephalitis virus infection (3.5%), scrub typhus (2.6%), spotted fever group infection (0.9%), unspecified flavivirus infection (0.9%), and murine typhus (0.4%). We discuss the empirical treatment of fever in relation to these findings.

DOI

10.4269/ajtmh.14-0772

Type

Journal article

Journal

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Publisher

American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Publication Date

02/09/2015

Volume

93

Pages

517 - 520

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