title: Short report: Diagnosis of tick-borne relapsing fever by the quantitative buffy coat fluorescence method.
abstract: The quantitative buffy coat (QBC) parasite detection method is a sensitive and specific tool for the diagnosis of malaria parasites. It is also useful for the diagnoses of other hemoparasites, including Trypanosoma, Babesia, and Leptospira. We report a case of relapsing fever diagnosed by this technique in a short-term traveler from Senegal. The diagnosis was confirmed by the standard Giemsa hemoscopy and by the identification of significant titers of antibodies to Borrelia spp. of tick-borne relapsing fevers by specific immunofluorescence and Western blot tests. The QBC technique seems to be useful in the diagnosis of tick-borne relapsing fever in blood samples and should be included in the management of fever in the traveler returning from tropical regions.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, University of Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chatel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gulletta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matteelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marangoni
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Signorini
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Oladeji
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caligaris
mesh_terms: D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001898:Borrelia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008875:Middle Aged; D012061:Relapsing Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes