Relapsing fever Borrelia infections have attracted little attention in recent years; however, where endemic, these infections still result in considerable illness and death. Despite the marked antimicrobial drug susceptibility of these organisms, therapy is often delayed through lack of clinical suspicion. With increasing travel, infections may be imported, through exotic relapsing fever infect...

Relapsing fever Borrelia spp. challenge microbiologic typing because they possess segmented genomes that maintain essential genes on large linear plasmids. Antigenic variation further complicates typing. Intergenic spacer (IGS, between 16S-23S genes) heterogeneity provides resolution among Lyme disease-associated and some relapsing fever spirochetes. We used an IGS fragment for typing East Afri...

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare systemic disease characterized by recurrent, widespread chondritis of the auricular, nasal, and tracheal cartilages. Additional clinical features include audiovestibular dysfunction, ocular inflammation, vasculitis, myocarditis, and nonerosive arthritis. Although the cause remains unknown, the etiology is suspected to be autoimmune. We describe a case of ...

Relapsing polychondritis (RPC) is a unique and rarely observed autoimmune condition regarded as recurrent extensive chondritis of the auricular, nasal, and tracheal cartilages. Moreover, heart, main arteries, skin, and eyes may be involved. Several forms of clinical manifestations may be seen, and the pathogenesis still remains anonymous. A concomitant disease, particularly myelodysplasia or ot...

Nitrofurantoin has well-described associations with a range of adverse pulmonary effects. We report the case of a 72-year old woman with relapsing pneumonitis secondary to the intermittent use of nitrofurantoin, a pattern of disease not well-represented in the literature. The case is also noteworthy as the diagnosis was initially overlooked due to the circumstances of the patient's medication u...

For many years the only drugs licensed for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) were administered by injection (interferon beta, glatiramer and ▼natalizumab). Recently, three oral drugs have become available. We have previously reviewed the use of ▼fingolimod for highly active relapsing-remitting MS1 and ▼teriflunomide for the management of relapsing-remitting MS in adults.2 Here, we review...

Keywords Disease name and synonyms Diagnostic criteria / Definition Differential diagnosis Prevalence Laboratory findings Prognosis Management Etiology Genetic findings Diagnostic methods Genetic counseling Unresolved questions References Abstract Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a multisystem inflammatory disease of unknown etiology affecting the cartilage. It is characterized by recurrent epi...

Relapsing polychondritis, an uncommon, chronic, multisystem disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of inflammation of cartilaginous tissues, can be life-threatening, debilitating, and difficult to diagnose. This review is based on the authors' experience with 36 patients with relapsing polychondritis who were followed from 1980 to 1997, 30 patients located elsewhere who completed a detail...

There is substantial variation in the relapse frequency of Plasmodium vivax malaria, with fast-relapsing strains in tropical areas, and slow-relapsing strains in temperate areas with seasonal transmission. We hypothesize that much of the phenotypic diversity in P. vivax relapses arises from selection of relapse frequency to optimize transmission potential in a given environment, in a process si...