Mediterranean Spotted Fever: Epidemiological, Clinical, Paraclinical, and Evolutionary Aspects: About 12 Cases

Abstract

Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is a disease caused by an obligate intracellular bacterium: Rickettsia conorii, which infects humans through a vector (the brown dog tick). The first case of this infection was reported in Tunis in 1910 [1], and the characteristic inoculation lesion of the infection, or "black spot," was subsequently described in 1925 in Marseille. In 1930, the role of the brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus in transmitting the disease was discovered [2], and the causal bacterium, R. conorii, was identified [2]. Through this retrospective study, we present an analysis of all patients treated for rickettsiosis between 2008 and 2022 at the infectious diseases department of CHU Mohamed VI in Marrakech, addressing epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical, and evolutionary aspects. Diagnosis should prompt immediate treatment with doxycycline to prevent any progression of the disease to severe forms, especially in patients with comorbidities.