An autochthonous case of Zika due to possible sexual transmission, Florence, Italy, 2014

Abstract

At the beginning of May 2014, an Italian man is his early 30s (patient 1) returned to Florence, Italy, after a 10-day holiday in Thailand. On the day after his arrival, he developed a confluent maculopapular rash, on the face, trunk, arms, and legs, with fever (maximum temperature 38 °C), conjunctivitis, and frontal headache with retroocular pain.

Four days later, patient 1 was admitted to the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit of the Florence Careggi University Hospital. Blood tests revealed leucopenia (3,000 cells/µL; reference: 4,000–10,000/µL) while creatinine, platelet count and transaminases were normal. Serological investigation two days after (i.e. 6 days after symptoms onset), showed past exposure to measles and parvovirus, negative results for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 1–2 Ab/Ag and chikungunya IgM, a positive result for dengue virus (DENV) IgM, and negative results for DENV IgG, as well as DENV NS1 Ag .