First Identification and Description of Rickettsioses and Q Fever as Causes of Acute Febrile Illness in Nicaragua
Rickettsial infections and Q fever cause illness characterized by fever and non-specific symptoms and signs. Not only are these infections difficult to recognize, they are also difficult to diagnose because of limitations in existing tests for them. Despite sporadic reports, rickettsial infections a...
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| Format: | Online |
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Public Library of Science
2016
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| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5201229/ |
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pubmed-5201229 |
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pubmed-52012292017-01-19 First Identification and Description of Rickettsioses and Q Fever as Causes of Acute Febrile Illness in Nicaragua Reller, Megan E. Chikeka, Ijeuru Miles, Jeremy J. Dumler, J. Stephen Woods, Christopher W. Mayorga, Orlando Matute, Armando J. Research Article Rickettsial infections and Q fever cause illness characterized by fever and non-specific symptoms and signs. Not only are these infections difficult to recognize, they are also difficult to diagnose because of limitations in existing tests for them. Despite sporadic reports, rickettsial infections and Q fever have not been prospectively studied in Central America. We enrolled consecutive patients presenting with undifferentiated fever in western Nicaragua and collected data regarding potential risk factors as well as symptoms and signs associated with the illnesses. Additionally, we collected blood samples at the initial visit and 2 to 4 weeks thereafter. We used serologic assays to differentiate new (rising antibody titers) vs. old (stable antibody titers) infections. Characteristics associated with both acute and past infection were assessed. We enrolled 825 patients and identified acute (new) rickettsial infections and acute Q fever in 0.9% and 1.3%, respectively. Clinical features were non-specific and neither rickettsial infections nor Q fever were considered nor treated. Further study is warranted to define the burden of these infections in Central America. Public Library of Science 2016-12-30 /pmc/articles/PMC5201229/ /pubmed/28036394 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005185 Text en © 2016 Reller et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| repository_type |
Open Access Journal |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
US National Center for Biotechnology Information |
| building |
NCBI PubMed |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| format |
Online |
| author |
Reller, Megan E. Chikeka, Ijeuru Miles, Jeremy J. Dumler, J. Stephen Woods, Christopher W. Mayorga, Orlando Matute, Armando J. |
| spellingShingle |
Reller, Megan E. Chikeka, Ijeuru Miles, Jeremy J. Dumler, J. Stephen Woods, Christopher W. Mayorga, Orlando Matute, Armando J. First Identification and Description of Rickettsioses and Q Fever as Causes of Acute Febrile Illness in Nicaragua |
| author_facet |
Reller, Megan E. Chikeka, Ijeuru Miles, Jeremy J. Dumler, J. Stephen Woods, Christopher W. Mayorga, Orlando Matute, Armando J. |
| author_sort |
Reller, Megan E. |
| title |
First Identification and Description of Rickettsioses and Q Fever as Causes of Acute Febrile Illness in Nicaragua |
| title_short |
First Identification and Description of Rickettsioses and Q Fever as Causes of Acute Febrile Illness in Nicaragua |
| title_full |
First Identification and Description of Rickettsioses and Q Fever as Causes of Acute Febrile Illness in Nicaragua |
| title_fullStr |
First Identification and Description of Rickettsioses and Q Fever as Causes of Acute Febrile Illness in Nicaragua |
| title_full_unstemmed |
First Identification and Description of Rickettsioses and Q Fever as Causes of Acute Febrile Illness in Nicaragua |
| title_sort |
first identification and description of rickettsioses and q fever as causes of acute febrile illness in nicaragua |
| description |
Rickettsial infections and Q fever cause illness characterized by fever and non-specific symptoms and signs. Not only are these infections difficult to recognize, they are also difficult to diagnose because of limitations in existing tests for them. Despite sporadic reports, rickettsial infections and Q fever have not been prospectively studied in Central America. We enrolled consecutive patients presenting with undifferentiated fever in western Nicaragua and collected data regarding potential risk factors as well as symptoms and signs associated with the illnesses. Additionally, we collected blood samples at the initial visit and 2 to 4 weeks thereafter. We used serologic assays to differentiate new (rising antibody titers) vs. old (stable antibody titers) infections. Characteristics associated with both acute and past infection were assessed. We enrolled 825 patients and identified acute (new) rickettsial infections and acute Q fever in 0.9% and 1.3%, respectively. Clinical features were non-specific and neither rickettsial infections nor Q fever were considered nor treated. Further study is warranted to define the burden of these infections in Central America. |
| publisher |
Public Library of Science |
| publishDate |
2016 |
| url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5201229/ |
| _version_ |
1613847714909388800 |