Lyme borreliosis presenting as severe back pain after Shinrin-Yoku (forest bathing) in southern Germany

Abstract

Travel medicine traditionally intends to prevent and manage imported infections in inhabitants from developed nations visiting the global South. This unidirectional view creates a gap, which has recently been recognized as an emerging topic in travel medicine, since nowadays emerging economies contribute significantly to international travel.1 Our case illustrates the diagnostic challenges of a patient in Chile presenting acute low back pain after returning from a trip to Germany. A 58-year-old otherwise healthy German woman, living in Chile since 8 years, attended Clínica Alemana with a 1- week history of low back pain, radiating into the left thigh, accompanied by headache and fatigue.