title: Short report: Rickettsia felis outer membrane protein A: a potential tool for diagnosis of patients with flea-borne spotted fever.
abstract: Rickettsia felis infection in humans has been detected worldwide, causing an illness that could be confused with other viral and bacterial infections such as dengue fever. Despite the high incidence of infection in humans, reservoirs, and vectors, the definitive diagnosis of R. felis infection currently requires polymerase chain reaction and sequencing because its antigens are closely related to other rickettsiae, making serologic diagnosis problematic. In this work, we report the immune reactivity of sera from four patients infected with R. felis with recombinant peptides representing regions of outer membrane protein A of R. felis.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Unidad Interinstitucional de Investigación Clínica y Epidemiológica, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. zcastro@uady.mx
authors.forename: Jorge E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Zavala-Castro
authors.forename: Karla R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Dzul-Rosado
authors.forename: Juan José Arias
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: León
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Jorge E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Zavala-Velázquez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000382:microbiology; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D041161:Rickettsia felis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; C078167:OMPA outer membrane proteins