New trends in Mediterranean spotted fever

Abstract

Mediterranean Spotted Fever is a disease caused by Rickettsia conorii. It is endemic to the Mediterranean area, where, for the last few years, the number of cases has increased, possibly due, in part, to climatic factors. The main clinical aspects of a prospective series of 246 cases diagnosed from 1983 to 1988 are presented. The most characteristic manifestations were fever, exanthema and tache noire. Other frequent manifestations were headache, myalgia and arthralgia, and with lesser frequency, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, gastrointestinal symptoms and conjunctivitis. Notable analytical changes are the rise of hepatic and muscular enzymes in a large number of patients. In some cases we have found signs of myositis in muscular biopsy. The evolution of our patients was usually favorable though serious and even deadly forms of the disease have been described. One of the factors that seems to greatly influence the appearance of these forms is delay in the initiation of effective treatment.

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

“…The monthly distribution of cases shows that the apparition of the disease parallels the maximal activity of the immature stages of R. sanguineus (Fig. As in other studies, the sex ratio is elevated and males are more frequently diagnosed as having MSF than females [10]. We reported here data on the sex and age distribution in patients.…”

Clinical and laboratory findings of boutonneuse fever in Sicilian children

“…While non-exanthematic forms have occasionally been reported by other authors [2,16,22], lymphadenopathy as the sole symptom has not been documented before.…”

Isolation and Identification ofRickettsia massiliaefromRhipicephalus sanguineusTicks Collected in Arizona

“…In these countries, particularly in Greece and Spain, it has been noted that a discrepancy exists between the sero- prevalence of antibodies to spotted fever group rickettsiae in local human populations, the incidence of reported rickettsioses (3,17,28,32,60), and the occurrence of severe and fatal forms of MSF (28,29,34,57,62). Similarly, there is a noticeable discrepancy in the prevalence of antibodies reactive with virulent R. conorii in dog populations and the occurrence of disease in different locations in Spain (32,34,60,61). These observations support the idea that both virulent and avirulent rickettsiae may be responsible for seroreactivity to spotted fever group agents in human and canine populations (9,10,17).…”