Browsing by Author "Portillo, A."
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- Guidelines for the Detection of Rickettsia spp.Publication . Portillo, A.; de Sousa, R.; Santibánez, S.; Duarte, A.; Edouard, S.; Fonseca, I.P.; Marques, C.; Novakova, M.; Palomar, A.M.; Santos, M.; Silaghi, C.; Tomassone, L.; Zúquete, S.; Oteo, J.A.The genus Rickettsia (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) includes Gram-negative, small, obligate intracellular, nonmotile, pleomorphic coccobacilli bacteria transmitted by arthropods. Some of them cause human and probably also animal disease (life threatening in some patients). In these guidelines, we give clinical practice advices (microscopy, serology, molecular tools, and culture) for the microbiological study of these microorganisms in clinical samples. Since in our environment rickettsioses are mainly transmitted by ticks, practical information for the identification of these arthropods and for the study of Rickettsia infections in ticks has also been added.
- Neglected aspects of tick-borne rickettsiosesPublication . Tomassone, L.; Portillo, A.; Nováková, M.; de Sousa, R.; Oteo, J.A.Rickettsioses are among the oldest known infectious diseases. In spite of this, and of the extensive research carried out, many aspects of the biology and epidemiology of tick-borne rickettsiae are far from being completely understood. Their association with arthropod vectors, the importance of vertebrates as reservoirs, the rarity of clinical signs in animals, or the interactions of pathogenic species with rickettsial endosymbionts and with the host intracellular environment, are only some examples. Moreover, new rickettsiae are continuously being discovered. In this review, we focus on the 'neglected' aspects of tick-borne rickettsioses and on the gaps in knowledge, which could help to explain why these infections are still emerging and re-emerging threats worldwide.