Duval X, Chosidow O, Tissot-Dupont H, Raoult D, Frances C
Service des maladies infectieuses et tropicales, hôpital Bichat-Claude-Bernard, Paris.
Rev Med Interne. 1998 Aug;19(8):548-57. doi: 10.1016/s0248-8663(99)80022-8.
Rickettsiosis are emerging, life-threatening infectious diseases that are world-wide distributed and have various manifestations. Most of the time, skin involvement is the prominent feature of clinical manifestations. Clinicians must therefore be well aware of these various clinical pictures.
Knowledge about rickettsial infections has recently improved due to either the identification of new vectors and reservoirs, the description of new systemic and cutaneous signs and symptoms, or the amelioration of diagnosis methods. Cutaneous manifestations mainly depend on the type of microorganism and on the host characteristics. In some cases, they are so typical that their only identification would lead to the diagnosis.
As growing population movements may lead to an increase in the disease incidence, detailed knowledge of clinical, particularly cutaneous, manifestations of rickettsiosis is required in order to improve both diagnosis and treatment. When identified, cutaneous manifestations of rickettsiosis allow the clinician to confirm rapidly the diagnosis, using polymerase chain reaction or immunofluorescence and to institute prompt and specific treatment, thus reducing unfavorable disease outcome.
立克次体病是一种正在出现的、危及生命的传染病，分布于世界各地，有多种表现形式。大多数情况下，皮肤受累是临床表现的突出特征。因此，临床医生必须充分了解这些不同的临床表现。
由于发现了新的传播媒介和宿主、描述了新的全身及皮肤症状体征或改进了诊断方法，最近对立克次体感染的认识有所提高。皮肤表现主要取决于微生物类型和宿主特征。在某些情况下，这些表现非常典型，仅凭其识别就能确诊。
由于人口流动增加可能导致疾病发病率上升，因此需要详细了解立克次体病的临床，尤其是皮肤表现，以改善诊断和治疗。一旦发现立克次体病的皮肤表现，临床医生就可以使用聚合酶链反应或免疫荧光快速确诊，并迅速进行针对性治疗，从而降低疾病的不良后果。
