AUTOCHTHONOUS EPIDEMIC TYPHUS ASSOCIATED WITH BARTONELLA QUINTANA BACTEREMIA IN A HOMELESS PERSON

SÉKÉNÉ BADIAGA Service d’Accueil des Urgences, Hôpital Nord, Chemin des Bourrelly, Marseille, France; Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hôpital Nord, Chemin des Bourrelly, Marseille, France; Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR 48, faculté de médecine, Marseille, France

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PHILIPPE BROUQUI Service d’Accueil des Urgences, Hôpital Nord, Chemin des Bourrelly, Marseille, France; Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hôpital Nord, Chemin des Bourrelly, Marseille, France; Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR 48, faculté de médecine, Marseille, France

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DIDIER RAOULT Service d’Accueil des Urgences, Hôpital Nord, Chemin des Bourrelly, Marseille, France; Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hôpital Nord, Chemin des Bourrelly, Marseille, France; Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR 48, faculté de médecine, Marseille, France

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2005.72.638
Volume/Issue:
Volume 72: Issue 5
Page(s):
638–639
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Trench fever, a louse-borne disease caused by Bartonella quintana, is reemerging in homeless persons. Epidemic typhus is another life-threatening louse-borne disease caused by Rickettsia prowazekii and known to occur in conditions of war, famine, refugee camps, cold weather, poverty, or lapses in public health. We report the first case of seroconversion to R. prowazekii in a homeless person of Marseilles, France. This was associated with B. quintana bacteremia. Although no outbreaks of typhus have been notified yet in the homeless population, this disease is likely to reemerge in such situation.

Author Notes

Reprint requests: Professeur Philippe Brouqui, Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR 48, faculté de médecine, 27 bd J Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 5, France, E-mail: philippe.brouqui@medecine.univ-mrs.fr.
Copyright:
Copyright 2005 The American Society of Tropical Medicine 2005
Received:
14 Apr 2004
|
Accepted:
21 Jul 2004
|
Published Online:
May 2005
Cover The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Print ISSN:
0002-9637
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