Seroepidemiology of Rickettsia africae infection in Norwegian travellers to rural Africa

Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases
Mogens JenseniusBjørn Myrvang

Abstract

Rickettsia africae is the causative agent of African tick bite fever (ATBF), an acute febrile illness frequently accompanied by inoculation eschars, regional lymphadenitis, myalgia and severe headache. Recently, ATBF has been recognized as an emerging health problem for international travellers to rural sub-Saharan Africa. To estimate the incidence, risk factors for and proportion of symptomatic cases of travel-associated R. africae infection, we performed a seroepidemiological study of 152 first-time Norwegian travellers to rural areas in sub-Equatorial Africa. Seropositivity was based on the detection of specific antibodies to R. africae in microimmunofluorescence and/or Western blotting assays. Thirteen (8.6%) travellers were seropositive to R. africae. Eight (62%) seropositive travellers reported symptoms consistent with ATBF; of these, 2 had received antirickettsial therapy. Using multiple logistic regression, the following factors were found to be significantly associated with seropositivity: hunting as the purpose of travel [odds ratio (OR) 10.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5-69; p=0.019] and stay in rural areas of > 7 d (OR 6.0; 95% CI 1.5-24; p=0.012). This first seroepidemiological study on travel-associated R. afr...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 27, 2003·Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·Mogens JenseniusUNKNOWN Norwegian African Tick Bite Fever Study Group
Oct 15, 2005·Clinical Microbiology Reviews·Philippe ParolaDidier Raoult
Jul 6, 2012·The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene·Sara J AarslandMiguel M Cabada
Nov 23, 2006·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·J R Blanco, J A Oteo
Aug 30, 2008·Infectious Disease Clinics of North America·Cécile CazorlaPhilippe Parola
Dec 20, 2008·Current Infectious Disease Reports·Edward F Hendershot, Daniel J Sexton
Jan 31, 2020·Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·Sophia G de VriesAbraham Goorhuis
Jun 19, 2003·The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene·Kevin R MacalusoAbdu F Azad
Nov 16, 2004·Journal of Travel Medicine·Yves JacksonLouis Loutan
Sep 23, 2003·Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases·George Watt, Philippe Parola

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