Eric Caumes, Newly Elected ISTM Board Member
One of the reasons that the ISTM has become an extremely successful organization in a relatively short period of time is because its members have such varied backgrounds and interests. They are physicians representing most medical specialties, various kinds of nurses, pharmacists, PhDs, and even non-medical individuals with a keen interest in travel medicine. An unusually high percentage of our members are recognized experts in their fields, are dedicated to travel medicine and to the ISTM, and are willing to devote their time and energies into furthering the aims of the Society. Our newest Board member, Eric Caumes, elected at CISTM10 in Vancouver last year, is an example of such dedication. He will serve on the Board until 2011.
Eric was born in Bordeaux, France, grew up in the Paris suburbs and now lives in Paris, (in Chinatown). He attended medical school at the Faculty of Medicine Bichat Claude Bernard in Paris, a school that is especially strong in the study of infectious diseases. He spent time (1983-1984) in Kathmandu, Nepal, as the French embassy physician. In Kathmandu he became interested in travel medicine and there he had the opportunity to meet David Shlim, since then a close friend. By coincidence, both have become ISTM Board members at the same time.
Eric has been a dedicated member of the ISTM. He was present at the first biennial Conference in Zurich in 1988, and has attended every Conference since_a record duplicated by a surprising number of our members. He has lectured at many of the Conferences, mostly on travel-related skin diseases, has been a member of the Site Selection committee, and is on the editorial board of the ISTM's Journal of Travel Medicine.
In his "real" life, Eric is the vice chairman of the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, and since 2001, Professor of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the University Hospital Pierre et Marie Curie, both in Paris. He is involved in the research, practice and teaching of travel and tropical medicine, with expertise in dermatology and HIV infections. He is board-certified in dermatology since 1989 and infectious diseases since 1993. He is the president of the French Society of Travel Medicine (a 20-year-old Society with about 500 members), editor of "La Lettre de l'Infectiologue", on the editorial board of the "Bulletin de la Société de Pathologie Exotique" and the co-editor of the 5th edition of "Medecine Tropicale". In addition, he is author or co-author of six books on tropical dermatology and travel medicine and has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, 300 abstracts and 40 chapters for books.
Eric's main area of travel medicine-related research concerns travellers who return home ill, especially those with skin infections. He is considered an authority in cutaneous larva migrans, leishmaniasis, complicated skin and soft tissue infections, and imported tropical diseases such as typhoid, schistosomiasis, malaria and gnathostomiasis. In his daily practice, he is very involved in the care of HIV-infected patients with focus on skin manifestations and cutaneous adverse drug reactions.
As an ISTM Board member, Eric intends to work toward seeing more emphasis placed on specific subgroups of travellers such as expatriates and migrants visiting friends and relatives in their country of origin (both groups are at higher risk of travel-related diseases), and to promote research regarding post-travel medical issues. He believes that the study of tropical diseases in returning travellers helps improve knowledge of tropical medicine, which will improve the prevention of the diseases in travellers.
His main hobby is his family: Geraldine, his wife of nearly 20 years, their two children, Melodie and Eliott, and two older children from a previous marriage. Not surprisingly, he likes to travel, and has done so extensively in North and South America, North and sub-Saharan Africa, and most extensively in Asia, the continent he knows best. He enjoys photography and listening to music from all over the world, especially the blues and Rock'n'Roll.
Here are abstracts of two recent articles by Eric:
Hochedez P, Caumes E. Hookworm-related cutaneous larva migrans. J Travel Med. 2007 Sep-Oct;14(5):326-33
"Hookworm related cutaneous larva migrans" (HrCLM), is a disease that need to be distinguished from "cutaneous larva migrans", a syndrome, and from "creeping dermatitis", a cutaneous sign. HrCLM is the most frequent skin disease associated with travel to the tropics and often misdiagnosed; many Western physicians are unfamiliar with it. HrCLM is usually acquired via contact with soil or sand contaminated with feces of infected cats or dogs. Feet are the predominant site but all skin is susceptible. Causative hookworms, commonly Ancylostoma braziliense and A.caninum, are found worldwide, but infection is more frequent in tropical and subtropical countries, including the southeastern U.S. Humans are incidental hosts; the larvae are unable to deeply penetrate human skin and consequently migrate within it for weeks. Symptoms develop within a few days after contamination and consist of one to three pruritic, erythematous, linear or serpiginous tracks (i.e., creeping dermatitis) approximately 3 mm wide and up to 15 to 20 mm in length. Edema and vesiculobullous lesions along tracks may be present. Untreated, the larvae finally die within a few weeks but prolonged evolution has been described. HrCLM has to be distinguished from other causes of creeping dermatitis.. Oral ivermectin and albendazole are the first-line treatments. Cryotherapy is ineffective. Larvae are difficult to locate, usually located several centimeters beyond the visible end of the tract and may survive temperatures of -21°C for more than 5 minutes. Cryotherapy is also painful and can cause chronic ulcerations.
Spectrum of dermatoses in 165 travelers returning from the tropics with skin diseases. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2007 Jan;76(1):184-6 Ansart S, Perez L, Jaureguiberry S, Danis M, Bricaire F, Caumes E.
The spectrum of dermatoses occurring in travelers returning from the tropics is poorly documented. We analyzed the relative frequency of travel-associated dermatoses and their possible relationships to travel characteristics in all persons who came to our hospital between November 2002 and May 2003 for a cutaneous disorder related to travel in a tropical country. One hundred sixty-five travelers were included. The main dermatoses identified were infectious cellulitis (12.7%), scabies (10.3%), and pruritus of unknown origin (PUO) (9.1%). Tropical dermatoses accounted for 33.9% of the cutaneous disorders. Univariate analysis showed statistically significant correlations of infectious cellulitis with females, PUO with older age and immigrant status, pyoderma with expatriate status, scabies with tourism and travel to Africa, myiasis with tourism and travel to Africa and America, filariasis with travel to Africa and immigrant status, and cutaneous larva migrans with tourism.
