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BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Year : 2017  |  Volume : 65  |  Issue : 10  |  Page : 1038-1041

Rickettsial retinitis: Direct bacterial infection or an immune-mediated response?


1 Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
2 Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
3 Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

Correspondence Address:
Gadkar Amit Pundlik
251, Type 3 Quarters, A.V. Nagar, New Delhi - 110 049
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_369_17

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Infectious retinitis postfebrile illness is known to be caused by chikungunya, dengue, West Nile virus, Bartonella, Lyme's disease, Rift Valley fever, rickettsia, Herpes viruses etc. Rickettsia is Gram-negative bacteria transmitted by arthropods vectors. Ocular involvement is common including conjunctivitis, keratitis, anterior uveitis, panuveitis, retinitis, retinal vascular changes, and optic nerve involvement. Retinitis lesions in rickettsia can occur because of an immunological response to the bacteria or because of direct invasion and proliferation of bacteria in the inner retina. We report such a case of bilateral rickettsial retinitis proven by serology which worsened on systemic steroids and responded dramatically to therapy with oral doxycycline and steroid taper. We thus believe that direct bacterial invasion plays a major role in the pathogenesis of rickettsial retinitis.


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