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Fleas
Published in Jerome Goddard, Public Health Entomology, 2022
Murine typhus. The rickettsial disease called murine typhus is transmitted to humans by fleas and is characterized by headache, chills, prostration, fever, and general pains. There may be a macular rash, especially on the trunk. Infection occurs when infectious flea feces are rubbed into the fleabite wound or other breaks in the skin. Murine typhus is usually mild with negligible mortality, except in the elderly, although severe cases occasionally occur with hepatic and renal dysfunction. For many years, there were only about 100 cases of murine typhus reported annually in the United States.8,9 However, a recent paper reported 90 cases of murine typhus from just 2 Texas hospitals over a 3-year period.10 The classic cycle involves rat-to-rat transmission with the oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis, being the main vector; however, the classic cycle seems to have been replaced in suburban areas by a peridomestic animal cycle involving free-ranging cats, dogs, opossums, and their fleas.11 Murine typhus is one of the most widely distributed arthropod-borne infections endemic in many coastal areas and ports throughout the world.11
Ofloxacin
Published in M. Lindsay Grayson, Sara E. Cosgrove, Suzanne M. Crowe, M. Lindsay Grayson, William Hope, James S. McCarthy, John Mills, Johan W. Mouton, David L. Paterson, Kucers’ The Use of Antibiotics, 2017
A 5-year prospective nonrandomized study of Greek patients with murine typhus treated 73 patients with doxycycline, 11 with ofloxacin, and 6 with both drugs. Cure was obtained in all patients, but patients receiving doxycycline had earlier resolution of fever, with a median of 3 days compared to 4 days for ofloxacin (p = 0.001). However, this study is difficult to interpret as doses and durations were not specified (Chaliotis et al., 2012).
Fleas (order Siphonaptera)
Published in Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin, Parasitology, 2015
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin
Hosts and transmission Although they often have preferred hosts, most fleas are not highly host specific, readily transferring between hosts of different species. For instance, the cat flea C. felis readily uses both cats and dogs, as well as humans and other mammals as hosts. Various flea species transmit a variety of viral, bacterial, and eukaryotic parasites. The most important flea-borne disease is bubonic plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The most important vector species is probably the oriental rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis, but other species, including Pulex irritans, the human flea, are capable of transmitting plague. Rickettsia typhi, the bacterium responsible for murine typhus, is transmitted by several flea species. Myxoma virus, a pathogen in rabbits, is transmitted by several arthropods including fleas. C. felis, C. canis, and P. irritans all serve as intermediate hosts of the tapeworm Dipylidium caninum (see page 459). Trypanosomes in the subgenus Herpetosoma, and tapeworms in the genus Hymenolepis may also be vectored by fleas.
Murine typhus
Published in Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 2022
Seamus Lonergan, Gowtham Ganesan, Stephen J. Titus, Kashif Waqiee Ahmed
Murine typhus is caused by flea-to-human transmission of the gram-negative bacterium R. typhi. Symptoms of illness include fever, headache, myalgias, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Rarely, hepatosplenomegaly and cardiomegaly have been reported.3–6 In the US, the number of cases has risen from 495 in 2000 to 5500 in 2018. The illness is most common in May through August.7 Cases are mostly mild, with a 1% to 4% fatality rate without treatment.8
Antinuclear antibodies in infectious diseases
Published in Infectious Diseases, 2020
Jae Hyoung Im, Moon-Hyun Chung, Young Kyoung Park, Hea Yoon Kwon, Ji Hyeon Baek, Seung Yun Lee, Jin-Soo Lee
IFA tests to detect antibodies against O. tsutsugamushi, B. henselae, SFG, and murine typhus were conducted using in-house assays. Results of >1:40 were defined as seropositive. IFA tests to detect antibodies against O. tsutsugamushi, B. henselae, SFG of Rickettsia, and R. typhus were performed as previously described [12–15].