Tropical Medicine Case Presentations: Movement Above the Eye and a Snake Bite Case

Needs Statement

The International Tropical Medicine Case Conference is designed to address key educational needs among healthcare providers in the areas of knowledge, competence, and performance. First, there is a need to expand knowledge of clinical tropical medicine by providing up-to-date, evidence-based information on the diagnosis, management, and prevention of tropical diseases, especially those less familiar to providers in non-endemic regions. Second, the activity will augment competence by using interactive case discussions to enhance clinical reasoning, diagnostic skills, and the ability to apply guidelines in real-world scenarios. Third, the conference aims to improve performance by encouraging participants to integrate new knowledge and skills into their clinical practice, leading to more accurate diagnoses, timely interventions, and improved patient outcomes for those affected by tropical diseases.

Educational Objectives

At the conclusion of the activity, the participants should be able to:

• Describe emerging patterns in tropical disease epidemiology, including transmission in subtropical regions of the United States, and explain the impact of climate change and urbanization on vector expansion, particularly among immigrant, traveler, and underserved populations.
• Differentiate tropical diseases from other conditions using clinical presentation, epidemiologic context, and evidence-based diagnostic workflows aligned with World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
• Interpret complex laboratory results for vector-borne tropical diseases such as Chagas disease and dengue, Zika, and West Nile viral infections and apply diagnostic strategies tailored to disease-specific presentations.
• Apply current state and national protocols for reporting neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), identify common barriers to timely and complete reporting, and utilize digital tools such as the CDC Yellow Book during patient evaluations.
• Engage in enhanced interprofessional collaboration with public health departments and tropical medicine specialists for case management.

Target Audience

Activity Evaluation

Evaluation by questionnaire will address program content, presentation, and possible bias.

Educational Methods

• Lectures

Accreditation/Credit Designation

Baylor College of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Baylor College of Medicine designates this enduring material activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Term of Approval

February 1, 2026 through February 29, 2028. Original release date: February 1, 2026.

Disclosure Policy

Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians. BCM is committed to sponsoring CE activities that are scientifically based, accurate, current, and objectively presented.

In accordance with the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support, BCM has implemented a mechanism requiring everyone in a position to control the content of an educational activity (i.e., directors, planning committee members, faculty) to disclose any relevant financial relationships with commercial interests (drug/device companies) and manage/resolve any conflicts of interest prior to the activity. Individuals must disclose to participants the existence or non-existence of financial relationships at the time of the activity or within 24 months prior.

In addition, BCM has requested activity faculty/presenters to disclose to participants any unlabeled use or investigational use of pharmaceutical/device products; to use scientific or generic names (not trade names) in referring to products; and, if necessary to use a trade name, to use the names of similar products or those within a class. Faculty/presenters have also been requested to adhere to the ACCME's validation of clinical content statements.

BCM does not view the existence of financial relationships with commercial interests as implying bias or decreasing the value of a presentation. It is up to participants to determine whether the relationships influence the activity faculty with regard to exposition or conclusions. If at any time during this activity you feel that there has been commercial/promotional bias, notify the Activity Director or Activity Coordinator. Please answer the questions about balance and objectivity in the activity evaluation candidly.

All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated.