Skin lesions and inoculation eschars at the tick bite site in spotted fever group rickettsioses: experience from a patient series in eastern crete, Greece.
Dermatology
; 228(4): 332-7, 2014.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24800649
ABSTRACT
The main clinical signs and symptoms caused by a rickettsial infection typically begin 6-10 days after the bite and are accompanied by nonspecific findings such as fever, headache and muscle pain. The diagnosis is mainly based on serological tests, however antibody presentation may be delayed, at least at the early stages of the disease, while seroconversion is usually detected 10-15 days after disease onset. Culture is difficult, requires optimized facilities and often proves negative. Under this scope, the presence of a characteristic inoculation eschar at the bite site may prove a useful clinical tool towards the early suspicion and diagnosis/differential diagnosis of tick-borne rickettsioses, even before the onset of rash and fever or serological confirmation. We describe herein the presence of skin lesions and/or an inoculation eschar at the tick bite site in 17 patients diagnosed, by molecular means, as suffering from spotted fever group rickettsioses. The detection of the pathogen's DNA in biopsy samples proved to be a useful means for early rickettsiae detection and identification. Moreover, the presence of an infiltrated erythema always seemed to precede the appearance of an eschar by 2-5 days and the initiation of fever by 1-10 days; these two signs might also prove useful in the context of the final diagnosis.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pele
/
Carrapatos
/
DNA Bacteriano
/
Febre Botonosa
/
Rickettsia conorii
/
Eritema
/
Mordeduras e Picadas de Insetos
/
Anticorpos Antibacterianos
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Animals
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Dermatology
Assunto da revista:
DERMATOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Grécia