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Review
. 2019 Mar;33(1):213-229.
doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2018.10.010.

The Rickettsioses: A Practical Update

Lucas S Blanton  1
Affiliations
Review

The Rickettsioses: A Practical Update

Lucas S Blanton. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Rickettsia are small, obligately intracellular, gram-negative bacilli. They are distributed among a variety of hematophagous arthropod vectors and cause illness throughout the world. Rickettsioses present as an acute undifferentiated febrile illness and are often accompanied by headache, myalgias, and malaise. Cutaneous manifestations include rash and eschar, which both occur at varying incidence depending on the infecting species. Serology is the mainstay of diagnosis, and the indirect immunofluorescence assay is the test of choice. Reactive antibodies are seldom present during early illness, so testing should be performed on both acute-phase and convalescent-phase sera. Doxycycline is the treatment of choice.

Keywords: Epidemic typhus; Murine typhus; Rickettsia prowazekii; Rickettsia rickettsii; Rickettsia typhi; Rocky mountain spotted fever; Spotted fever group rickettsioses; Vector-borne disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Disclosure of any relationship with a commercial company that has a direct financial interest in subject matter or materials discussed in article or with a company making a competing product

The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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