Zeitschrift für Infektionskrankheiten und Therapie

Abstrakt

Ocular Manifestations of Rickettsial Disease

Nesrine Abroug, Sana Khochtali, Rim Kahloun, Anis Mahmoud, Sonia Attia and Moncef Khairallah*

Rickettsioses are emergent and resurgent arthropod vector borne diseases due to obligate intracellular small gram-negative bacteria. Most of them are transmitted to humans by the bite of contaminated arthropods, such as ticks. Systemic disease typically consists of high fever, headache and skin rash, with or without «tache noire» (dark spot). Ocular involvement is common including conjunctivitis, keratitis, anterior uveitis, panuveitis, retinitis, retinal vascular changes, and optic nerve involvement. Proper clinical diagnosis of this infectious disease is based on epidemiological data, history, systemic symptoms and signs, and the pattern of ocular involvement. The diagnosis is usually confirmed by detection of specific antibodies in serum. Ocular involvement associated with rickettsial infection usually has a selflimited course, but it can result in persistent visual impairment. Doxycycline is the treatment of choice for rickettsial diseases but prevention is the mainstay of rickettsial infection control.