Friend back from the DR has mystery illness..

May 29, 2006
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One of my friends has been back for about a week and has been trying to get diagnosed for something he caught in the DR. Of course, the first thing they checked for was Zika because of the hysteria, but it's something else. He has swollen eyes and a rash in his mouth as the main symptoms. He was in some remote regions and I suspect it could be water contamination of some kind.

Anyone know what could be causing the symptoms? He's had four days of tests here and they haven't a clue.
 

jstarebel

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Oct 4, 2013
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One of my friends has been back for about a week and has been trying to get diagnosed for something he caught in the DR. Of course, the first thing they checked for was Zika because of the hysteria, but it's something else. He has swollen eyes and a rash in his mouth as the main symptoms. He was in some remote regions and I suspect it could be water contamination of some kind.

Anyone know what could be causing the symptoms? He's had four days of tests here and they haven't a clue.

I honestly doubt it is water related because the majority of waterborne illness are intestinal and not superficial unless he contacted water inside his mouth loaded with some sort of pesticide or herbicide which are not widely used in the DR. Possibly in the tobacco growing regions, but doubtful. Hope your friend gets better.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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syphilis maybe? :cheeky:

if he is no longer exposed to the allergens the symptoms should not worsen or persist. has he been given any anti allergens?
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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1can't be schisto//those are liver flukes....take time to multiply.

Seems like allergy.

Good luck.. and keep us informed. He needs to chronicle every (yes, every) thing he did during his stay.


HB
 

greydread

Platinum
Jan 3, 2007
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Could be Meningitis, Lyme Disease or some bacterial infection resulting in Vertigo. I would definitely get a referral for epidemiology screening. Immediately.
 

greydread

Platinum
Jan 3, 2007
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DR1 medical center. A bunch of MDs here. And best of all - it is FREE!

News Flash!

"Go see a Doctor" is not a "medical opinion". It's sound advice. The symptoms described could indicate many afflictions, none good. There is an amoeba commonly found in raw fish which feeds on human brain tissue..that infestation results in similar symptoms before dementia and eventual death.
 

jimmythegreek

Bronze
Dec 4, 2008
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One of my friends has been back for about a week and has been trying to get diagnosed for something he caught in the DR. Of course, the first thing they checked for was Zika because of the hysteria, but it's something else. He has swollen eyes and a rash in his mouth as the main symptoms. He was in some remote regions and I suspect it could be water contamination of some kind.

Anyone know what could be causing the symptoms? He's had four days of tests here and they haven't a clue.

Does your friend have pain in the chest-congestion-coughing?

A number of people have been having these symptoms here in DR and it seems to linger.

Some are saying that it is a case of walking pneumonia that is going around.
 

TravelHippo

Active member
Mar 24, 2008
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Was he eating / handling mangoes?? I (and many others unknowingly) are allergic to the sap on mangoes. When I first moved here, I was eating mangoes straight from tree, holding them by the outer skin, rubbing my eyes afterwards.. and everytime I had eyes so swollen they would barely open, very swollen lips with bumpy rash on lips, hands and anywhere else the sap may have touched. No doctor here could tell me what was going on. THey just told me it was too much sun. Nope! After about 3 times, I realized it was the mangoes. I can still eat them now, just have to be careful with touching the skin/sap and washing my hands right after. Ask your friend if he was near mangoes while here!
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
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One of my friends has been back for about a week and has been trying to get diagnosed for something he caught in the DR. Of course, the first thing they checked for was Zika because of the hysteria, but it's something else. He has swollen eyes and a rash in his mouth as the main symptoms. He was in some remote regions and I suspect it could be water contamination of some kind.

Anyone know what could be causing the symptoms? He's had four days of tests here and they haven't a clue.

A couple of months back I woke up one morning and my face between my eyes and lips was swollen and it got worse to the point were it looked like I was in bar fight. I ended up going to the emergency room. After many tests they concluded it was some type of simple infection and gave me anti-biotics and after about 4 days it went away and hasn't re-occurred. If you havn't gone to the ER go asap.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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While we are not doctors (at least some of us), we have accumulated decades of experience here in the tropics.

Our advice is to retrace (as I mentioned above) every single step of that person's stay here in the DR. Because of the large
number of possibilities, this is the sensible thing to do, and of course take that list to the epidemiologist.

We do love to guess, so I hope that the OP will come back and tell us how this story ends.

HB