Rickettsiosis, una enfermedad letal emergente y re-emergente en Colombia

Abstract

<p>Rickettsiosis was first described in Colombia in 1937 by Dr Luis Patiño during an outbreak of a disease with unspecific signs. Rickettsia is a genus of Gram-negative intracellular obligatory bacteria having caused several epidemics around the world, and are transmitted mainly by ticks, fleas, lice and mites. The most fatal within this group of diseases is known as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), which is caused by Rickettsia rickettsia. There is also the endemic typhus caused by Rickettsia typhi and epidemic typhus caused by Rickettsia prowazekii. In Colombia, several outbreaks of RMSF have occurred during the last decade. The best known among those have hit the municipalities of Necoclí and Turbo, in Antioquia in 2006 and 2008 respectively, and Los Cordobas in the department of Cordoba in 2007. The goal of this review is to describe the state of the art of rickettsiosis, a forgotten lethal disease that has re-emerged in our country, and leave some questions as an inspiration for future research that will hopefully lead scientists to a better understanding of this entity potentially endemic in some areas of Colombia.</p><p><br /><strong>Key words</strong>: outbreak, emerging, reservoir, rickettsiosis, vector, typhus, zoonoses.</p>

Fatal murine typhus with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in a child

“…Rickettsiosis should be suspected in all patients with bone marrow failure and histiocytes on biopsy, since cases associated with Rickettsia conorii and Rickettsia rickettsii have already been described and we are now presenting the sixth case of Rickettsia typhi with HLH diagnosed by IFA and IHC staining. This technique can be useful in the early diagnosis of these pathologies before the rise in immunoglobulins takes place, anticipating the diagnosis and thus avoiding many deaths due to Rickettsia in Yucatan that are overlooked, not confirmed or not reported 17 , 18 .…”

Enfoque clínico del síndrome febril agudo en Colombia

“…Se caracteriza por síntomas como: fiebre >38 °C, cefalea, malestar general y, después de 2-7 días del inicio de la infección, puede aparecer un brote en la piel del tronco, extremidades, zona periaxilar y palmas de las manos. El 50% presentan náuseas, vómito y otros sín-tomas gastrointestinales al inicio de la infección 29,30 . Ocasionalmente puede presentarse hipovolemia, isquemia de extremidades y órganos.…”

Enfoque clínico del síndrome febril agudo en Colombia

“…Se caracteriza por síntomas como: fiebre >38 °C, cefalea, malestar general y, después de 2-7 días del inicio de la infección, puede aparecer un brote en la piel del tronco, extremidades, zona periaxilar y palmas de las manos. El 50% presentan náuseas, vómito y otros síntomas gastrointestinales al inicio de la infección 29,30 . Ocasionalmente puede presentarse hipovolemia, isquemia de extremidades y órganos.…”