International Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume 16, Issue 3 , Pages e221-e222, March 2012

A case of rickettsialpox in Northern Europe

  • Aurélie Renvoisé

      Affiliations

    • URMITE, UMR CNRS 6236, IRD 198, Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine, 27 bd Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 5, France
    • ,
  • Jan W. van’t Wout

      Affiliations

    • Department of Internal Medicine, Bronovo Hospital, The Hague, the Netherlands
    • Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
    • ,
  • Jan-Gerrit van der Schroeff

      Affiliations

    • Department of Dermatology, Bronovo Hospital, The Hague, the Netherlands
    • ,
  • Matthias F. Beersma

      Affiliations

    • Department of Virology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
    • ,
  • Didier Raoult

      Affiliations

    • URMITE, UMR CNRS 6236, IRD 198, Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine, 27 bd Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 5, France
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +33 491 385 517; fax: +33 491 387 772.

Received 28 June 2011; received in revised form 12 October 2011; accepted 27 November 2011. published online 18 January 2012.

Corresponding Editor: J. Peter Donnelly, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Summary 

We report the first case of rickettsialpox caused by Rickettsia akari in the Netherlands. The diagnosis was suspected based on clinical grounds and was confirmed by Western blot analysis with cross-adsorption. Because the arthropod vector (Liponyssoides sanguineus) is ubiquitous, we suspect that the disease is under-diagnosed in non-endemic areas.

Keywords: Rickettsia akari, Emerging disease, Rickettsialpox, Netherlands

 

PII: S1201-9712(11)00246-3

doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2011.11.009

International Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume 16, Issue 3 , Pages e221-e222, March 2012

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