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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2002, p. 324-328, Vol. 9, No. 2
1071-412X/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.9.2.324-328.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Kinetics of Antibody Responses in Rickettsia africae and Rickettsia conorii Infections

Pierre-Edouard Fournier,1 Mogens Jensenius,2 Herman Laferl,3 Sirka Vene,4 and Didier Raoult1*

Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS:UPRESA 6020, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France,1 Department of Internal Medicine, Aker University Hospital, Oslo, Norway,2 Medical Department, Kaiser Franz Josef Hospital, Vienna, Austria,3 Department of Virology, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Solna, Sweden4

Received 21 August 2001/ Returned for modification 11 October 2001/ Accepted 30 November 2001

African tick-bite fever, caused by Rickettsia africae, is the most common tick-borne rickettsiosis in sub-Saharan Africa. Mediterranean spotted fever due to Rickettsia conorii also occurs in the region but is more prevalent in Mediterranean countries. Using microimmunofluorescence, we compared the development of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM titers in 48 patients with African tick-bite fever and 48 patients with Mediterranean spotted fever. Doxycycline treatment within 7 days from the onset of disease significantly prevented the development of antibodies to R. africae. In patients with African tick-bite fever, the median times to seroconversion with IgG and IgM were 28 and 25 days, respectively, after the onset of symptoms. These were significantly longer by a median of 6 days for IgG and 9 days for IgM than the times for seroconversion in patients with Mediterranean spotted fever (P < 10-2). We recommend that sera collected 4 weeks after the onset of signs of patients with suspected African tick-bite fever should be used for the definitive serological diagnosis of R. africae infections.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS:UPRESA 6020, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France. Phone: (33)04-91-38-55-17. Fax: (33)04-91-83-03-90. E-mail: Didier.Raoult{at}medecine.univ.mrs.fr.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2002, p. 324-328, Vol. 9, No. 2
1071-412X/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.9.2.324-328.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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