scholarly journals Laboratory Diagnosis of Endemic Typhus and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

1933 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. F. Badger
1943 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Plotz ◽  
Joseph E. Smadel ◽  
Thomas F. Anderson ◽  
Leslie A. Chambers

The morphological structures of the rickettsiae of epidemic and endemic typhus fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Q fever are similar to one another and to certain bacteria. The rickettsial organisms in common with the elementary bodies of vaccinia virus and all bacteria would appear to have a limiting membrane which surrounds a substance that seems to be protoplasmic in nature; numbers of dense granules are embedded in the inner protoplasm.


1931 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Felix ◽  
M. Rhodes

1. Fletcher and Lesslar's observations on two serological types of tropical typhus have been fully confirmed.2. The antigenic relationship between the indologenicB. proteusX 19 and the non-indologenic Kingsbury strain is of the same order as that obtaining between the X 19 and X 2 types ofB. proteusX.3. The Kingsbury strain is an antigenic variant derived from the original X 19 culture and represents another serological type ofB. proteusX. The symbol XK is suggested for this type.4. Sera from cases of classical European typhus and of endemic typhus of the United States of America and of Australia have been tested for the occurrence of main and group O agglutinins for the known types ofB. proteusX.5. H agglutination as source of error in the diagnosis of typhus cases is illustrated by some examples.6. Sera from cases of tsutsugamushi from Sumatra and Japan react with type XK like the Malayan cases of this disease described by Fletcher and co-workers.7. This latter reaction is of the order of group O agglutination. It is suggested that antigenically the virus of tsutsugamushi corresponds to another serological type ofB. proteusX which is yet unknown.8. The data published on the serum reactions in Rocky Mountain spotted fever and in the “fièvre exanthématique” of Marseilles are analysed. It is suggested that these two diseases represent further serological varieties of typhus.9. The significance hitherto attached to negative agglutination tests withB. proteusX and to negative cross-immunity tests obtained with some typhuslike diseases requires revision in the light of recent observations.


2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Quintero Vélez ◽  
Marylin Hidalgo ◽  
Juan David Rodas González

<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>


1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
D H Walker

Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a life-threatening tick-transmitted infection, is the most prevalent rickettsiosis in the United States. This zoonosis is firmly entrenched in the tick host, which maintains the rickettsiae in nature by transovarian transmission. Although the incidence of disease fluctuates in various regions and nationwide, the problems of a deceptively difficult clinical diagnosis and little microbiologic diagnostic effort persist. Many empiric antibiotic regimens lack antirickettsial activity. There is neither an effective vaccine nor a generally available assay that is diagnostic during the early stages of illness, when treatment is most effective. Microbiology laboratories that offer only the archaic retrospective Weil-Felix serologic tests should review the needs of their patients. Research microbiologists who tackle these challenging organisms have an array of questions to address regarding rickettsial surface composition, structure-function analysis, and pathogenic and immune mechanisms, as well as laboratory diagnosis.


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