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Volume 12, Number 5—May 2006
Dispatch

Historical Lassa Fever Reports and 30-year Clinical Update

Abe M. Macher*Comments to Author  and Martin S. Wolfe†‡§
Author affiliations: *US Public Health Service (retired), Bethesda, Maryland, USA; †Travelers Medical Service of Washington, Washington, DC, USA; ‡George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA; §Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

Main Article

Table

Patients with imported Lassa fever who were hospitalized in the United States*

Patient no. Year of import From To Clinical manifestations
1 1969 Nigeria New York, NY Fever, malaise, headache, nausea, sore throat, epigastric/right upper quadrant tenderness, pleural effusion, facial/cervical edema, dysphagia, elevated transaminases, cough, dyspnea, pulmonary infiltrates, epiglottal edema, lethargy, nystagmus, lightheadedness, dizziness without vertigo, ataxia, alopecia (2)
2 1975 Sierra Leone Washington, DC Abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, headache, myalgia, arthralgia, conjunctival injection, lymphadenopathy, weight loss, pleuritic chest pain, pleural effusion, unilateral deafness
3 1976 Sierra Leone Washington, DC Abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, retroorbital pain, neck/back pain, paresthesias, right ear pain, fever, vertigo, syncope, dysmorphopsias, alopecia, weight loss, ecchymoses, insomnia, depression, hypotension, left-sided facial weakness, right-sided Babinski reflex, Weber test lateralized to the left (3)
4 1989 Nigeria Chicago, IL Shaking chills, fever, sore throat, myalgia, headache, dysphagia, bloody diarrhea, elevated transaminases, hypotension, adult respiratory distress syndrome, death (4)
5 2004 Sierra Leone and Liberia Trenton, NJ Chills, fever, sore throat, diarrhea, back pain, adult respiratory distress syndrome, death (1)

*Patients 1–4 are US citizens; patient 5 is a Liberian national.

Main Article

References
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Main Article

1Portions of this patient's clinical signs and symptoms were originally published in Zweighaft et al. (2).

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Page updated: January 12, 2012
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The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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