What long-ago illness could this have been?

March 13, 2025 3:26 PM

Someone just reminded me of a mystery illness I had about 25 years ago. Near the end of a month-long trip in Egypt and continuing for 2-3 weeks after returning home I had reoccurring fevers — mainly nights, with massive night sweats — as well as splotchy red spots on my torso and noticeable weight loss. No other symptoms. I did also have a brief, hellacious stomach bug while traveling, but only for a day and seemingly unconnected to the fever which began a couple weeks later. Based on this limited info, what are the likeliest candidates for this fever?

Typhoid fever seems to be the closest thing symptom-wise I've read about -- though I don't recall having any diarrhea and typhoid generally sounds much more severe than what I experienced. It also doesn’t seem like a high risk in Egypt, though maybe it was moreso back then?

I was pretty careful about what I ate on the trip (except for a cold tomato soup that probably caused the stomach bug). I do remember being bitten a lot by mosquitos in some parts of the country.

Beforehand I got the recommended immunizations for Egypt, which at the time I think was only Hepatitis-A and a polio update. I was already up to date with childhood immunizations like MMR and Tdap.

This illness stood out as being unlike anything I'd experienced previously or since. I didn’t seek any medical attention mainly because I was a young and foolish college student, but also because I didn’t *feel* super ill during the daytime.

This question is purely out of curiosity and doesn’t have any relevance for my current health (hopefully!).

posted by theory to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

It may well have been typhoid fever, although the fever at nighttime makes me wonder if it could have been a case of mild malaria that resolved on its own (not very common but not impossible).
posted by virve at 3:40 PM on March 13

It does sound like it might have been malaria, especially considering the mosquitos. Egypt had largely tamed its malaria problem by 2000, but it was still around.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 4:02 PM on March 13

Agreed, sounds like you had a bout of malaria, the night fevers especially. To avoid it in when traveling in India in 2008 I was prescribed a drug which came in little blue capsules, which I had to start taking one daily a week before arrival, and had to continue until a week after departure.
posted by Rash at 4:30 PM on March 13

I don't think splotchy red spots are usually a symptom of malaria. Was it just skin redness or was it more like a rash with little bumps? The latter would suggest dengue or possibly chikungunya (though that usually causes joint pain), both of which are also mosquito-borne and can produce a specific rash (search for photos if you remember what yours looked like).
posted by ssg at 4:45 PM on March 13

The splotchy red spots were indeed very similar to the dengue pics I just googled. They weren’t raised very much, if at all.

I don’t think malaria was a big concern at the time in Egypt and chloroquine wasn’t recommended by the travel doctor I went to, but I suppose it’s not out of the question.
posted by theory at 5:59 PM on March 13

You may have had West Nile Virus as the symptoms sound similar.
posted by effluvia at 6:59 PM on March 13

I had dengue fever and this sounds a lot like that.
posted by seemoorglass at 2:17 PM on March 14

You might want to be aware that being re-infected with a different dengue serotype (there are four), can get you even sicker.
posted by ssg at 2:33 PM on March 14