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Background: Chagas encephalitis is a rare but severe manifestation of reactivation in patients with chronic Chagas disease., Case Presentation: A woman in her seventies who was immunosuppressed after a heart transplant due to Chagas disease was admitted with convulsions, headache and visual disturbances. She developed fever, confusion and repeated convulsions. Pleocytosis was found in spinal fluid. Wet-mount microscopy of spinal fluid revealed motile Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes, and multiple trypomastigotes were seen on a Giemsa-stained smear, confirming reactivation of Chagas disease with meningoencephalitis. Despite benznidazole treatment, she deteriorated, exhibiting pharyngeal paralysis, aphasia and increasing somnolence. Brain CT showed pathology consistent with Chagas encephalitis. Nifurtimox was given as an adjunctive treatment. After a week of treatment, the patient began to improve. She completed 60 days of benznidazole and had regained normal cognitive and neurological function on subsequent follow-up. She had no signs of myocarditis reactivation., Interpretation: Chronic Chagas disease is common among Latin American immigrants in Europe. Reactivation with myocarditis after a heart transplant is well known, while encephalitis is a rare manifestation. We report on a case of Chagas encephalitis in an immunosuppressed patient. Microscopy of parasites in spinal fluid revealed the diagnosis. The WHO provided antiparasitic medications, and despite a severe prognosis, the patient made a full recovery.

Background: African sleeping sickness is a neglected tropical disease seldom seen in European travellers., Case Presentation: While working in Eastern Africa, a Norwegian man in his sixties developed weakness and fever. He was prescribed doxycycline after a negative malaria rapid test. On the third day of illness he returned to Norway and was admitted to the hospital upon arrival. On admission he was somnolent with fever, tachypnoea, tachycardia, jaundice, a hyperaemic rash, oliguria and haematuria. Blood tests revealed leukopenia, thrombocytopaenia, renal failure and liver dysfunction. Rapid tests were negative for malaria and dengue. Blood microscopy revealed high parasitaemia with trypanosomes indicating human African sleeping-sickness. He had been bitten by a tsetse fly 11 days prior in an area endemic for Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. However, the clinical picture was consistent with Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infection (East African sleeping sickness). Four days after starting treatment with suramin, spinal fluid examination revealed mild mononuclear pleocytosis but no visible parasites. Melarsoprol treatment for possible encephalitis was considered but suramin treatment was continued alone. He improved and remains healthy seven years later. PCR on blood was positive for T. b. rhodesiense., Interpretation: African sleeping sickness can also affect tourists to endemic areas. Onset can be acute, life-threatening and requires treatment with antiparasitic drugs not generally available in Norwegian hospitals.

Background: Leishmaniasis is a rare but potentially severe tropical infectious disease, and Norwegian clinicians are generally unfamiliar with its diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to investigate the number of cases diagnosed, performance of diagnostic methods and treatment of leishmaniasis at five university hospitals in Norway., Material and Method: The number of cases, diagnosis and treatment of suspected leishmaniasis were registered prospectively in the period March 2014 - September 2017 at the university hospitals of Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim and Tromsø., Results: A total of 13 patients with leishmaniasis were registered in the period. Visceral leishmaniasis was diagnosed in two patients infected in the Mediterranean region, after 7 and 8 weeks with symptoms. The diagnosis was made by serology as well as microscopy and/or polymerase chain reaction tests (PCR) on spleen, blood and bone marrow. Both patients were treated effectively with liposomal amphotericin B. Cutaneous leishmaniasis was diagnosed in 11 patients, and samples from 10 of these tested positive with PCR. Two patients were infected with potentially mucotropic species. Liposomal amphotericin B was the first-line choice for all those who received treatment, but one patient recovered only after local therapy with sodium stibogluconate., Interpretation: Assessment of visceral leishmaniasis was undertaken according to international guidelines. The patients were diagnosed late in the disease course, presumably because the disease is rare and not well known in Norway. Cutaneous leishmaniasis was diagnosed with PCR, but none of the patients received local treatment as the first-line choice, as recommended in suitable cases, presumably because the drugs are not readily available in Norway and many clinicians are unfamiliar with the route of administration with local infiltration.

Background: About 60 patients with malaria are admitted to Norwegian hospitals every year. The prescription figures for malaria medication may suggest that Norwegians are increasingly exposed to malaria infection., Material and Method: All Norwegian hospitals with a department of internal medicine were sent an electronic questionnaire for reporting the available methods for diagnosing and treating malaria., Results: There was a 100% response (48/48). Microscopy for malaria diagnosis was available at 92% (44/48) and a rapid test for detecting malaria antigen at 67% (32/48), while 6% (3/48) had no malaria detection test available. Artesunate and quinine for intravenous treatment were both available at 6% (3/48), only artesunate at 27% (13/48) and only quinine at 27% (13/48) of the hospitals. Drugs for intravenous treatment of severe malaria were not available at 40% (19/48) of the hospitals., Interpretation: More than a third of Norwegian hospitals lack preparedness for treating severe malaria, and some hospitals lack diagnostic procedures. Severe malaria is a condition that may rapidly become life-threatening and is treated with artesunate or quinine intravenously. All Norwegian hospitals should have procedures for emergency treatment of the disease.

Hand pain is a relatively common complaint, and careful anamnesis and clinical examination may reveal its aetiology. Multiple joint involvement suggests either osteoarthritis or inflammatory arthritis. In the returning traveller, a more exotic explanation might be the case. A 31 year old woman was referred to our outpatient clinic for evaluation due to peripheral joint arthralgia. The symptoms started six months earlier, on the same day she returned from a three-week holiday in India. There were no signs of inflammatory arthritis or osteoarthritis. Blood tests were normal. Chikungunya virus serology was positive. The patient received symptomatic treatment with nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs and improved over a period of months. We describe the first case of Chikungunya fever diagnosed in our hospital.

Background: While bacterial infections are one of the most important causes of disease and death in developing countries, the prevalence and consequences of antimicrobial resistance are not well known., Material and Methods: This is a review article based on literature retrieved from a non-systematic review and own experience from research on the topic., Results: Research on antimicrobial resistance is increasing in developing countries, but most of the data are obtained from referral hospitals in capitals and major cities. Multiresistant Gram-negative bacteria, including ESBL-(extended-spectrum beta-lactamase) producing bacteria have been documented in several countries and are associated with increased lethality. The most serious resistance problems in developing countries are associated with Gram-negative bacteria and tuberculosis and may result in increased risk of death., Interpretation: Developing countries have a much higher overall burden of infectious diseases than the rich western countries and also poor access to newer antibiotics, which can be lifesaving when treating infections caused by resistant bacteria. To combat overuse and misuse of antibiotics, the diagnosis of infectious diseases must be strengthened and antimicrobial resistance must be emphasized in education of health professionals and the general public. There is a need for improved surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and strengthened quality control of antimicrobial drugs. In the long-term perspective, poverty reduction, improved living conditions and hygiene, safe water supplies and access to quality health care (including vaccination and HIV care), may contribute to prevent emerging antimicrobial resistance.