 |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following text is from an archived Red Book® edition and may not reflect current recommendations or information. To view the current edition, click here.
Section 3. Summaries of Infectious Diseases
Rickettsial Diseases
Rickettsiae are small, coccobacillary bacteria, most of which have arthropod vectors, including ticks, fleas, and lice. Humans are incidental hosts, except for epidemic (louseborne) typhus, when humans are the principal reservoir and the human body louse is the vector. Rickettsiae are obligate intracellular pathogens and cannot be grown in cell-free media. They have typical bacterial cell walls and cytoplasmic membranes and divide by binary fission. Their natural life cycles typically involve mammalian reservoirs, and animal-to-human or vector-to-human transmission occurs as a result of environmental or occupational exposure.
Ticks are vectors for many rickettsial diseases. Thus, control measures involve prevention of tick transmission of rickettsial agents to humans (see Prevention of Tickborne Infections, p 186).
Rickettsial infections have many features in common, including the following:
Multiplication of the organism occurs in an
. . . [Go to Full Text]
Related Articles
-
Prevention of Tickborne Infections
Red Book 2003 2003: 186-187.[Extract] [Full Text]
-
Q Fever
Red Book 2003 2003: 512-514.[Extract] [Full Text]
-
Rickettsialpox
Red Book 2003 2003: 531-532.[Extract] [Full Text]
-
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Red Book 2003 2003: 532-534.[Extract] [Full Text]
-
Endemic Typhus (Fleaborne Typhus or Murine Typhus)
Red Book 2003 2003: 668-669.[Extract] [Full Text]
-
Epidemic Typhus (Louseborne Typhus)
Red Book 2003 2003: 669-670.[Extract] [Full Text]
-
Ehrlichia Infections (Human Ehrlichioses)
Red Book 2003 2003: 266-269.[Extract] [Full Text]