Mediterranean spotted fever: a report of 200 cases in Tunisia

Department of Ophthalmology, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, Monastir, TunisiaINTRODUCTIONMediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is a tick-bornezoonosis caused by Rickettsia conorii. Its firstdescription was made by Conor and Brush inTunisia in 1910, where this disease is the mostcommon rickettsiosis.The characteristic symptoms are fever and rashwith the presence of a black eschar ‘tache noire’ inthe majority of cases. Early empiric therapy withtetracycline is the standard care for any caseconsidered consistent with a MSF infection whileconfirmatory laboratory results are pending.The aim of our study is to assess the effective-ness of a short course of antibiotic treatment inMSF.MATERIALS AND METHODS