There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

We report a fatal case of rickettsiosis in a woman from the United States living in Kenya, who had a history of tick exposure. Immunohistochemical staining of skin, kidney, and liver demonstrated spotted fever group rickettsiae. The clinical findings, severity, and fatal outcome are most consistent with Rickettsia conorii infection.

Related collections

Most cited references 13

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Genotypic identification of rickettsiae and estimation of intraspecies sequence divergence for portions of two rickettsial genes.

R Regnery, C L Spruill, B D Plikaytis (1991)

DNA sequences from specific genes, amplified by the polymerase chain reaction technique, were used as substrata for nonisotopic restriction endonuclease fragment length polymorphism differentiation of rickettsial species and genotypes. The products amplified using a single pair of oligonucleotide primers (derived from a rickettsial citrate synthase gene sequence) and cleaved with restriction endonucleases were used to differentiate almost all recognized species of rickettsiae. A second set of primers was used for differentiation of all recognized species of closely related spotted fever group rickettsiae. The procedure circumvents many technical obstacles previously associated with identification of rickettsial species. Multiple amplified DNA digest patterns were used to estimate the intraspecies nucleotide sequence divergence for the genes coding for rickettsial citrate synthase and a large antigen-coding gene of the spotted fever group rickettsiae. The estimated relationships deduced from these genotypic data correlate reasonably well with established rickettsial taxonomic schemes.

0 comments Cited 233 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Rickettsioses as paradigms of new or emerging infectious diseases.

D Raoult, V Roux (1997)

Rickettsioses are caused by species of Rickettsia, a genus comprising organisms characterized by their strictly intracellular location and their association with arthropods. Rickettsia species are difficult to cultivate in vitro and exhibit strong serological cross-reactions with each other. These technical difficulties long prohibited a detailed study of the rickettsiae, and it is only following the recent introduction of novel laboratory methods that progress in this field has been possible. In this review, we discuss the impact that these practical innovations have had on the study of rickettsiae. Prior to 1986, only eight rickettsioses were clinically recognized; however, in the last 10 years, an additional six have been discovered. We describe the different steps that resulted in the description of each new rickettsiosis and discuss the influence of factors as diverse as physicians' curiosity and the adoption of molecular biology-based identification in helping to recognize these new infections. We also assess the pathogenic potential of rickettsial strains that to date have been associated only with arthropods, and we discuss diseases of unknown etiology that may be rickettsioses.

0 comments Cited 176 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Differentiation of spotted fever group rickettsiae by sequencing and analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism of PCR-amplified DNA of the gene encoding the protein rOmpA.

Ana V. Diez Roux, P.-E. Fournier, D Raoult (1996)

Currently, the genotypic identification of the spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae is based on restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of PCR-amplified genes coding for the enzyme citrate synthase and the surface proteins rOmpA and rOmpB. A set of useful restriction endonucleases was found following comparison of Rickettsia rickettsii and R. prowazekii sequences. However, by using three PCR amplifications and four enzyme digestions with this set, it was impossible to differentiate between all of the known serotypes of the SFG rickettsiae. We amplified by PCR and sequenced using an automated laser fluorescent DNA sequencer a fragment of the gene encoding the protein rOmpA from 21 serotypes of the SFG rickettsiae. A 632-bp amplification product was obtained for most of the strains, although no product could be obtained by using R. akari, R. australis, R. helvetica, and R. bellii DNAs. We found a characteristic sequence for all strains studied except the two isolates of R. massiliae, isolates GS and Mtul. Using the software package BISANCE, we determined the restriction map of this fragment and identified five potentially useful endonucleases, RsaI, AluI, PstI, XbaI, and AvaII. We confirmed the computer analysis-derived profiles by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The combination of the profiles obtained after digestion of the PCR product by RsaI and PstI allowed for the differentiation of 16 strains. The use of AluI and XbaI allowed for the characterization of R. parkeri and strain HA-91, respectively. R. africae and strain S were differentiated by AvaII digestion. Thus, using a single PCR amplification, we were able to differentiate all of the SFG rickettsiae whose ompA gene was amplified by PCR.

0 comments Cited 107 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Emerg Infect Dis

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Emerging Infect. Dis

Journal ID (publisher-id): EID

Title: Emerging Infectious Diseases

Publisher: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

ISSN (Print): 1080-6040

ISSN (Electronic): 1080-6059

Publication date (Print): May 2004

Volume: 10

Issue: 5

Pages: 910-913

Affiliations

[* ]United States Army Medical Research Unit, Nairobi, Kenya

[† ]University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

[‡ ]Kijabe African Inland Church Mission Hospital, Kijabe, Kenya

[§ ]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Author notes

Address for correspondence: Kevin R. Macaluso, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, 655 West Baltimore St., BRB 13-009, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; fax: 410-706-0282; email: kmaca001@ 123456umaryland.edu

Article

Publisher ID: 03-0537

DOI: 10.3201/eid1005.030537

PMC ID: 3323220

PubMed ID: 15200829

SO-VID: e0c76d6b-a643-48e7-b5d8-4ca468a3f5b9

History

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 16

See all cited by

Most referenced authors 125

See all reference authors

- Version 1

Fatal Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis, Kenya

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Ticks and tick-borne pathogens

Most cited references 13

Genotypic identification of rickettsiae and estimation of intraspecies sequence divergence for portions of two rickettsial genes.

Rickettsioses as paradigms of new or emerging infectious diseases.

Differentiation of spotted fever group rickettsiae by sequencing and analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism of PCR-amplified DNA of the gene encoding the protein rOmpA.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 24

Cited by 16

Most referenced authors 125