title: Epidemiological and clinical features of three clustered cases co-infected with Lyme disease and rickettsioses.
abstract: Lyme disease and rickettsioses are two common diseases in China. However, the concomitant occurrence of both diseases in a single individual has been reported infrequently in literature. We reported three related female patients admitted at Beijing Ditan Hospital from October to December 2010. They had similar epidemiological histories. At the beginning, they only got a single diagnosis, respectively, but after specific screenings, the final diagnoses were made. Because arthropods can harbour more than one disease-causing agent, patients can be infected with more than one pathogen at the same time, so the possibility of co-infection could be higher than what was thought previously. These observations suggested that clinicians should enhance the complete screening of arthropod-related infectious diseases so as to make an accurate diagnosis and to avoid diagnostic errors.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xuefei
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiaodi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhen
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xuexia
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jiazhen
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xiuping
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meimei
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jingshan
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yunru
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xiaoling
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kanglin
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xingwang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001179:Arthropod Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D060085:Coinfection; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016873:Ehrlichiosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012285:Orientia tsutsugamushi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer
keywords: Lyme disease; co-infection; ehrlichiosis; scrub typhus