Markers of exposure to spotted fever rickettsiae in patients with chronic illness, including fatigue, in two Australian populations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Some investigators believe that a proportion of chronically unwell patients, many with fatigue, have an underlying rickettsial disease. AIM: To investigate the prevalence of markers of rickettsial infection in patients with chronic illnesses. DESIGN: Observational study. METHODS: A 526 patient cohort with chronic illnesses from Melbourne, Australia and 400 control patients from Newcastle, Australia were assessed using serology, culture and PCR for the detection of rickettsiae. Rickettsial serology was performed on another cohort of 581 chronically unwell patients (and 34 non-fatigued patients from the same practice) from Adelaide, Australia. RESULTS: Of the Melbourne patient coho..