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Clin Microbiol Infect 2012; 18: 332-337 Abstract Several of the infectious diseases associated with human lice are life-threatening, including epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and trench fever, which are caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, Borrelia recurrentis, and Bartonella quintana, respectively. Although these diseases have been known for several centuries, they remain a major public health concern in populations living in poor-hygiene conditions because of war, social disruption, severe poverty, or gaps in public health management. Poor-hygiene conditions favour a higher prevalence of body lice, which are the main vectors for these diseases. Trench fever has been reported in both developing and developed countries in populations living in poor conditions, such as homeless individuals. In contrast, outbreaks of epidemic typhus and epidemic relapsing fever have occurred in jails and refugee camps in developing countries. However, reports of a significantly high seroprevalence for epidemic typhus and epidemic relapsing fever in the homeless populations of developed countries suggest that these populations remain at high risk for outbreaks of these diseases. Additionally, experimental laboratory studies have demonstrated that the body louse can transmit other emerging or re-emerging pathogens, such as Acinetobacter baumannii and Yersinia pestis. Therefore, a strict survey of louse-borne diseases and the implementation of efficient delousing strategies in these populations should be public health priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the development of multiplex 5'-nuclease real-time Polymerase chain Reaction (PCR) and its effectiveness in diagnosing the spotted fever and typhus group rickettsioses. Multiplex quantitative PCR assay is an epidemiologic tool for the diagnosis of rickettsial infections, which detects pathogen accurately and are able to distinguish between existing Rickettsia species. It also detects two OT DNA gene copies in blood, closely related to rickettsiae.

The article focuses on a study carried out to confirm the first molecular detection of Rickettsia conorii (R. conorii) subsp. conorii after the description of Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) in 1909 in Tunisia. The serological and molecular tests were done on nine patients hospitalised for acute febrile illness to investigate the rickettsial infection. The results of the study revealed that three patients were likely to be infected with R. conorii and six patients with murine typhus.

The article focuses on the investigation done into the effect of Rickettsia prowazekii infection of endothelial cells (ECs) on peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) adhesion and the involvement of integrins in the migration of leukocytes across ECs. It states that in epidemic typhus (ET), caused by R. prowazekii, the extravasation of leukocytes is critical for the establishment of the disease. It describes how Rickettsia infection of murine ECs increased binding of PBMCs to infected cells.

Presents a letter to the editor about the 100th anniversary of the discovery of delousing as a strategy against typhus.