My father-in-law was a Pan Am pilot who used to fly mostly international routes on all the Boeing planes. On one of his trips, he was flying Laos, Africa, routes, back in 1965/66, and he got some sort of disease. It is characterized by general body weakness, chills, fever, gasping for breath, skin gets very red/hot to touch, and lasts for about 10 days-2 weeks start to finish. After the red is all gone, the skin starts to peel off. This recurs on a sporadic basis, about 2-3 times a year. He's been to all sorts of doctors who have been unable to classify this or treat it with any effectiveness.

I'm wondering if any other pilots out there have gotten anything similar or know of anyone who has. I have to believe he's not the only one who contracted something like this, but if there were more data points, perhaps someone can find a cure.

Anyone have any insight? Anyone have anything similar that he/she attributes to international trips?

 

Description - Scarlet Fever - body, infection, children, rash, skin, hands, disease, sore

Have you checked with CDC?

 

Thanks for responding. So you can't really "talk" to the CDC....in fact, you pretty much have to be a doctor or government official going through protocol to talk to them. He's been checked out for scarlet fever and been through those treatments, but it had not affected this. That was pretty much the first thing ruled out.

 

Try to find a specialist in African diseases (you might have need to look in africa). There are many strange bugs down there, which may be similar to but not the same as the "routine" ailments which a regular western doc might be familiar with. even if it's something rare, odds are that someone down there knows about it.

 

what did he eat while there? Did he swim in any lakes? Did he get bite by some bug while there? Has the rash moved or where does it occur? BTW I stayed at a hotel 8 last night(jk).

 

If anyone is a Rush (the rock group) fan, you may recall that Neil Peart contracted some kind of parasitic disease from swimming in contaminated water while on a bike trip in Africa. It didn't manifest itself until he had been home for a few weeks. It's documented in his book "The Masked Rider: Cycling In West Africa".

I don't remember the name of the illness/disease, but he wasn't correctly diagnosed until he found it on his own by chance. I'll see if I still have the book.

Bottom line, don't waste your time on the family doctor. Get in touch with a specialist in African diseases. Good luck.

 

Found it: Schistosomiasis.

Read pages 334-337:

Traveling Music: Playing Back the ... - Google Books

Sounds a lot like your father's symptoms. Hope this helps.

...and he had been seen and tested at the Tropical Diseases and Infections department at a Toronto hospital, but they didn't bother to test him for this. Oops....

 

What your dad needs is a tropical disease specialist. We were told by folks involved in the oil industry that some of the best in the world are in Houston, TX. I'd strt there.