Relapsing fever in a Moroccan man

Tick-borne relapsing fever is a zoonosis caused by spirochetes of the genus Borrelia, transmitted by hematophagous ticks. This life-threatening condition is still misdiagnosed. We report a case of tick-borne relapsing fever in a 54 year-old man in Morocco with a history of hiking, who was hospitalized for an isolated fever. On admission, the clinical examination showed no specific signs. The laboratory assessment showed inflammatory syndrome with disturbance of the liver function. The blood culture was sterile. Serology was negative for HIV and Lyme disease, as were all the rest of the paraclinical tests. The patient's course was marked by spontaneous resolution of the fever and then, seven days later, the onset of a new episode of fever. Malaria was suspected and a blood sample was sent to the parasitology department. The thick smear and blood smear stained with May-Grünwald Giemsa showed the presence of spirochetes. Tick-borne relapsing fever was diagnosed and the patient responded favorably to treatment by cycline drugs. This disease is poorly known and should be considered in cases of presence of intermittent fever without a specific clinical-laboratory picture, according to epidemiological context. The diagnosis is confirmed by the presence of spirochetes on thick smear and blood or cerebrospinal fluid smear stained with MGG.

[Pulmonary nocardiosis and sarcoidosis]

Infectious complications are rarely observed in the course of sarcoidosis. Only small series or cases reports of infection are described in sarcoidosis. Corticosteroids-induced immune suppression, pulmonary fibrosis and T-CD4 lymphopenia, are often present. Pulmonary nocardiosis is an important cause of opportunistic infection in immunosuppressed patients, and the incidence of this infection is increasing. Pulmonary nocardiosis manifests as an acute, subacute or chronic infection with a marked tendency towards remissions and exacerbations. We report a case of pulmonary nocardiosis in a patient with sarcoidosis followed for pulmonary fibrosis receiving corticosteroids. During the investigation of pyrexia and dyspnea, evidence of Nocardia spp. infection was found in the bronchial secretions. Six months of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole therapy ensured further resolution of this pleuropulmonary infection. Pulmonary nocardiosis is exceptional in sarcoidosis and mainly occur, in patients receiving corticosteroids, and with CD4+ T-lymphocytopenia. Sarcoidosis by itself does not appear to be a risk factor of opportunistic infection.