Acute-phase diagnosis of murine and scrub typhus in Belgian travelers by polymerase chain reaction: a case report

Abstract Background Rickettsiosis is a potential life threatening infectious disease in travelers. Clinical recognition is not always straightforward, as typical manifestations such as rash and/or eschar may be absent. Definite diagnosis is based on seroconversion and therefore often delayed until the convalescent phase of disease. Case presentation In this case report, we describe four patients with severe travel-related rickettsiosis (two patients with murine- and two patients with scrub typhus), in whom acute- phase diagnosis was possible by real-time polymerase chain reaction on serum or b... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Caroline Theunissen
Lieselotte Cnops
Marjan Van Esbroeck
Ralph Huits
Emmanuel Bottieau
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
Reihe/Periodikum: BMC Infectious Diseases, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2017)
Verlag/Hrsg.: BMC
Schlagwörter: Murine typhus / Scrub typhus / Travelers / Polymerase Chain reaction / Infectious and parasitic diseases / RC109-216
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26527329
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-017-2385-x

Abstract Background Rickettsiosis is a potential life threatening infectious disease in travelers. Clinical recognition is not always straightforward, as typical manifestations such as rash and/or eschar may be absent. Definite diagnosis is based on seroconversion and therefore often delayed until the convalescent phase of disease. Case presentation In this case report, we describe four patients with severe travel-related rickettsiosis (two patients with murine- and two patients with scrub typhus), in whom acute- phase diagnosis was possible by real-time polymerase chain reaction on serum or blood. Conclusions Despite its limitations, we think that polymerase chain reaction can contribute significantly to the early diagnosis and treatment of rickettsial disease in travelers.