Mediterranean spotted fever in Marseille: Descriptive epidemiology and the influence of climatic factors

Abstract

The authors report the general epidemiologic features of Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) in the Marseille area (South France). Age was a risk factor, increasing after 50 years, and annual incidence seemed positively correlated with the average temperature of the preceding year and negatively correlated with the number of days with frost of the preceding year. However, correlations were not significant.

Mediterranean Spotted Fever: Retrospective Evaluation Of 16 Cases

“…Therefore, prompt treatment should be initiated in cases suspected of rickettsioses based on patient history and clinical evidences. [4][5][6][7][8][9] A comparison of complaints and evidences encountered in our patients with those observed in the other studies has been summarized in Table 4.…”

“…This article presents the epidemiological and clinical features of MSF and draws the attention of clinicians to the importance of MSF in the differential diagnosis of patients with clinical signs of fever, headache, rash and specially palmar and plantar rash in the presence of epidemiological criteria according to Raoult et al's [5] diagnostic score. However, our study has a limitation.…”

Questions on Mediterranean Spotted Fever a Century after Its Discovery

“…In addition, the ecologic changes in the outskirts of large cities during the 1980s may have played an important role by moving rural sources to suburban zones. Climatic factors could also intervene, such as the increase of temperature, the lack of rainfall (for example, in Spain [15] of days of frost during the past year in France (16). Climatic variations are suspected to play an important role in tick activity and, consequently, on rickettsial prevalence (15).…”

Associations between dogs that were serologically positive for Rickettsia conorii relative to the residences of two human cases of Mediterranean spotted fever in Piemonte (Italy)

“…Changes in frequency and spatial distribution of tick-borne zoonoses are affected by natural and man-made associated factors. The emergence of MSF, for example, has been associated with higher than usual temperatures and lower rainfall in Spain, and with a decrease in the number of days of frost in France (Raoult et al, 1992;Raoult and Roux, 1997). In Italy, the disease is most often reported in southern regions (Sicily and Latium), but it may also occur in central and northern regions (Maroli et al, 1996).…”