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Background: The aim of this study is to determine the current status of Spanish Hospital Emergency Services (HES) in diagnosing and treating the most prevalent tropical diseases (TD) in Spain., Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out, using a questionnaire in Google Forms® sent to members of the INFURG-SEMES group. The following variables were analyzed: the size of the hospital in terms of number of beds, number of tropical disease emergencies, existence of tropical medicine protocols, urgent diagnostic tests or antimalarial treatment., Results: The form was sent to 75 hospitals. Responses were obtained from 42 emergency services (55%) in 10 Autonomous Communities. Twenty-four (57.1%) had >500 beds. Only five hospitals (11.9%) have the facilities to diagnose malaria and dengue 24 hours a day. There was no tropical disease protocol in 19 (45.3%) hospitals. Seven (16.7%) hospitals had =?10 attendances/day. Larger hospitals were more likely to have an infectious disease unit independent from Internal Medicine service, along with a tropical medicine unit, and an on-call infectious disease specialist and microbiologist. There are no statistically significant differences between larger and smaller hospitals in terms of their capacity to carry out appropri-ate diagnoses or treatments in 24 hours., Conclusion: Care and treatment of emerging diseases are now a sizeable percentage of the consultations at an HES. Such units generally lack specific protocols, particularly for malaria. Urgent diagnostic testing for malaria is also needed.

Background: Cutaneous larva migrans may be diagnosed by the typical clinical presentation, consisting on a pruritic serpiginous lesion that advances in a patient with a history of sunbathing, walking barefoot on the beach, or similar activity in a tropical location., Case Presentation: We describe the case of a Mediterranean 32-year-old man, recently returned from a trip to a Brazilian beach, which presented with a 2-week history of pruritic cutaneous lesions that had not resolved after treatment with oral antihistamines and topical fluocinolone ointment. Physical examination showed a serpiginous, erythematous and slightly elevated lesion of 2-mm wide and 7-cm long located on the posterior aspect of his left knee. Patient affirmed that the lesion advanced progressively. Laboratory analyses only revealed an elevated absolute eosinophil count. Albendazole 400 mg/d 3 days was administered to the patient with complete resolution of symptoms within 1 week., Conclusion: Cutaneous larva migrans is common among travelers returning from tropical countries. We review epidemiology, clinical, diagnosis and therapeutic options of cutaneous larva migrans.