We were very interested in the discovery and comprehensive investigation by Dieme et al. (1) of mosquitos as potential vectors for Rickettisa felis. We would like to draw attention to another ectoparasite that we encountered as a possibly overlooked potential vector for rickettsial infections: the leech. In 2008, a 39-y-old diabetic woman was admitted to a hospital in Northern Laos with a 7-d h...

To the Editor: Scalp eschar and neck lymphadenopathy is a common clinical entity that most frequently affects women and children during spring and fall. It is usually caused by Rickettsia slovaca and R. raoultii. Typical clinical signs are a scalp lesion at the tick bite site and regional, often painful, lymphadenopathy. Acute disease can be followed by residual alopecia at the bite site (1,2)....

normal 0 false false false en-us x-none fa microsoftinternetexplorer4 objective: occupational burns are among the important causes of work-related fatalities and absenteeism. epidemiologic assessment of these injuries is important to define high-risk jobs. we designed this study to evaluate the epidemiology of occupational burns in yazd, an industrial province in iran. materials and methods: th...

This study evaluated the regional burn health care system of the Commonwealth of Virginia using the criteria for optimal care of the burn patient designated by the American Burn Association. The data base for this evaluation was hospital records of seven hospitals in Virginia. The major shortcoming of the designated criteria was the grading system for the severity of burn injury. Using the crit...

A regional burn disaster plan for 24 burn centers located in 11 states comprising the Southern Region of the American Burn Association was developed using online and in-person collaboration between burn center directors during a 2-year period. The capabilities and preferences of burn centers in the Southern Region were queried. A website with disaster information, including a map of regional bu...

A traveler to East Africa developed fever, an eschar on his forearm and thrombocytopenia shortly after returning home to Chennai, India. Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infection was diagnosed on examination of his peripheral smear. He made a full recovery after receiving a course of suramin.

Fifteen years after the initial detection of Rickettsia slovaca in ticks in Portugal, 3 autochthonous cases of R. slovaca infection were diagnosed in humans. All patients had an eschar on the scalp and lymphadenopathy; 2 patients had facial edema. R. slovaca infection was confirmed by serologic testing, culture, and PCR.

BACKGROUND Burn-trauma patient encounters constitute 5% of the emergency department population. HYPOTHESIS A large urban hospital will treat twice as many (ie, 10%) burn-trauma patients. DESIGN Retrospective 44-month study. SETTING Metropolitan county hospital. PATIENTS Population-based sample of burn-only (n = 1102), burn-trauma (n = 120), and assault burn-trauma (n = 43) patients. M...