Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia typhi in hospitalized children diagnosed with Pediatric Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome in Merida, Yucatan.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) presents with fever, fatigue, elevated inflammatory markers (acute phase reactants), and a history of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or positive antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, the risk of MIS-C in the pediatric population increased. However, exposure to other viruses and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 positive antibodies in children hospitalized for various pathogen-associated illnesses will also remain common and may complicate differential diagnoses with diseases endemic to the region such as rickettsial diseases. The objective was to highlight the desirability of medical personnel systematically incorporating rickettsiosis as a differential diagnosis for MIS-C when studying a child with fever, non-specific symptoms, and elevated inflammatory markers. In conclusion MIS-C should be considered in children with elevated inflammatory markers when there is a history of COVID-19 and they also meet criteria that have already been established by international agencies, such as CDC and WHO.

Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia typhi in hospitalized children diagnosed with Pediatric Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome in Merida, Yucatan

Abstract Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) presents with fever, fatigue, elevated inflammatory markers (acute phase reactants), and a history of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or positive antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, the risk of MIS-C in the pediatric population increased. However, exposure to other viruses and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 positive antibodies in children hospitalized for various pathogen-associated illnesses will also remain common and may complicate differential diagnoses with diseases endemic to the region such as rickettsial diseases. The objective was to highlight the desirability of medical personnel systematically incorporating rickettsiosis as a differential diagnosis for MIS-C when studying a child with fever, non-specific symptoms, and elevated inflammatory markers. In conclusion MIS-C should be considered in children with elevated inflammatory markers when there is a history of COVID-19 and they also meet criteria that have already been established by international agencies, such as CDC and WHO

Detection of Sars-Cov-2 in the air of two hospitals in Hermosillo, Sonora, México, utilizing a low-cost environmental monitoring system.

OBJECTIVE: The best way of preventing the dispersion of an infectious disease is decreasing the transmissibility of the pathogen. To achieve such a goal, it is important to have epidemiological surveillance to retrieve data about its routes of transmission and dispersion. This study investigated the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 detection using filtration through 0.22 µm pores. METHODS: A filtration system with vacuum pump was used for sampling, and molecular analysis was performed by RT-PCR for detecting the COVID-19 virus. RESULTS: It was found that SARS-CoV-2 could be detected in particulate matter trapped on 0.22 µm filters 3 h after air sampling, and the only contaminated areas were those near patient zones. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm the possibility of finding this virus in floating particulate matter in contaminated zones, with a simple and economic sampling method based on filtration technology through 0.22 µm pores and detection with molecular techniques (RT-PCR). The higher risk zones were those near patients with COVID-19.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Pregnancy: Four Cases from Sonora, Mexico.

We present a series of four pregnant women with Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) that occurred in Sonora, Mexico, during 2015-2016. Confirmatory diagnoses were made by polymerase chain reaction or serological reactivity to antigens of Rickettsia rickettsii by using an indirect immunofluorescence antibody assay. Each patient presented with fever and petechial rash and was treated successfully with doxycycline. Each of the women and one full-term infant delivered at 36 weeks gestation survived the infection. Three of the patients in their first trimester of pregnancy suffered spontaneous abortions. RMSF should be suspected in any pregnant woman presenting with fever, malaise and rash in regions where R. rickettsii is endemic.

The U.S.-Mexico Border Infectious Disease Surveillance project: establishing bi-national border surveillance.

In 1997, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Mexican Secretariat of Health, and border health officials began the development of the Border Infectious Disease Surveillance (BIDS) project, a surveillance system for infectious diseases along the U.S.-Mexico border. During a 3-year period, a binational team implemented an active, sentinel surveillance system for hepatitis and febrile exanthems at 13 clinical sites. The network developed surveillance protocols, trained nine surveillance coordinators, established serologic testing at four Mexican border laboratories, and created agreements for data sharing and notification of selected diseases and outbreaks. BIDS facilitated investigations of dengue fever in Texas-Tamaulipas and measles in California-Baja California. BIDS demonstrates that a binational effort with local, state, and federal participation can create a regional surveillance system that crosses an international border. Reducing administrative, infrastructure, and political barriers to cross-border public health collaboration will enhance the effectiveness of disease prevention projects such as BIDS.