A rickettsia infection from Saudi Arabia

•Rickettsia infection is rarely reported from Arabian Gulf Countries.•Suspected patients with spotted fever need to be started promptly on doxycycline while awaiting serology results.•The diagnosis is usually confirmed by IgG indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) assays on paired sera collected...

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Veröffentlicht in:International journal of infectious diseases 2020-01, Vol.90, p.167-169
Hauptverfasser: Elzein, Fatehi E., Aloteibi, Mutib, Alanazi, Wasan, Alsaeed, M., Almaghaslah, Manar
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:•Rickettsia infection is rarely reported from Arabian Gulf Countries.•Suspected patients with spotted fever need to be started promptly on doxycycline while awaiting serology results.•The diagnosis is usually confirmed by IgG indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) assays on paired sera collected 2-4 weeks apart.•PCR on eschar swabbing can identify the organism to the species level. We here present a young patient who developed fever, headache, maculopapular skin rash and an eschar 3 days following a tick bite. Serology for Rickettsia was consistent with acute spotted fever group (SFG) infection. He had a dramatic response to doxycycline. Vectors for rickettsia transmission are shown in a number of studies from Saudi Arabia while human serological studies from Oman revealed that these infections are common among the rural population. Surprisingly, despite the existence of potential vectors, this disease is rarely reported from the Arab Gulf countries. To the best of our knowledge this is the first case report of SFG acquired within Saudi Arabia. SFG should be considered in the differential diagnosis of febrile illness and exposure history.
ISSN:1201-9712
1878-3511
DOI:10.1016/j.ijid.2019.10.042