Murine Typhus with Marked Thrombocytopenia in a Child in Northern Greece and Literature Review

Sarikloglou, Evangelia; Goula, Anastasia; Sidiropoulos, Charalampos; Τσολιά, Μαρία; Papa, Anna

doi:10.7883/yoken.jjid.2018.091

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Murine typhus was first described in Greece in 1932 and, in 1948, 1,420 cases of murine typhus and 17 deaths were reported [8]. Since then, the disease is considered endemic on the Greek islands of Crete [9] and Euboea [10] whereas sporadic cases have been reported in northern Greece [11] and in the island of Kasos [12]. Because of murine typhus nonspecific clinical presentation and the lack of awareness by physicians we raised the question of the under-diagnosis of R. typhi infections in Greece.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sunbathing, a possible risk factor of murine typhus infection in Greece

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background There are few studies about the presence of murine typhus in Greece. Our objective was to conduct a large scale retrospective investigation to determine the clinical and epidemiological features of patients diagnosed with murine typhus in Greece. Methodology/Principal findings From 2012 to 2019 serum samples from hospitalized patients and outpatients throughout Greece suspected for murine typhus infection were tested by immunofluorescence assay for Rickettsia typhi. Immunofluorescence positive samples obtained since 2016 were also tested by qPCR targeting R. typhi. Clinical and epidemiological data were retrospectively collected for the patients with confirmed murine typhus. Overall, we tested 5,365 different patients and, in total, 174 patients from all geographic regions of Greece were diagnosed with murine typhus. The most frequently reported sign or symptom was fever (89%), followed by headache (84%) and rash (81%). The classical triad of fever, headache, and rash was present in 72% of patients during their illness. Severe infections with complications including acute renal failure or septic shock were not recorded. The majority of cases (81%) occurred during May–October and peaked in June and September. Most of patients (81%) infected in Athens, recalled that their only activity the last weeks before symptoms onset was swimming on the beach and 59% of them also reported an insect bite while sunbathing. Conclusions/Significance Our results may reflect the reemergence of murine typhus in Greece and we highlight the importance of awareness of this difficult-to-recognize undifferentiated febrile illness.

show abstract