Fatal Rickettsia parkeri Rickettsiosis in Immunocompromised Pediatric Patient, Georgia, USA, 2025

Abstract

We describe a fatal Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis case in a 3-year-old boy in Georgia, USA, receiving chemotherapy for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, hospitalized with febrile neutropenia. Plasma microbial cell-free DNA sequencing confirmed the diagnosis. This report highlights the need to maintain suspicion for tickborne diseases in immunocompromised hosts in some settings.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{bellman2026fatal,
  title = {{Fatal Rickettsia parkeri Rickettsiosis in Immunocompromised Pediatric Patient, Georgia, USA, 2025}},
  author = {Stephanie Bellman and Thomas G. Fox and Sunil S. Raikar and Daniel John Bergsagel and Meredith Steuer and Kiran B. Hebbar and Jennifer Kasten-Metz and Sandor E. Karpathy and Christopher D. Paddock and Kristy O. Murray},
  journal = {Emerging Infectious Diseases},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3201/eid3211.261174},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3211.261174},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Fatal Rickettsia parkeri Rickettsiosis in Immunocompromised Pediatric Patient, Georgia, USA, 2025
AU  - Stephanie Bellman
AU  - Thomas G. Fox
AU  - Sunil S. Raikar
AU  - Daniel John Bergsagel
AU  - Meredith Steuer
AU  - Kiran B. Hebbar
AU  - Jennifer Kasten-Metz
AU  - Sandor E. Karpathy
AU  - Christopher D. Paddock
AU  - Kristy O. Murray
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/30
JO  - Emerging Infectious Diseases
DO  - 10.3201/eid3211.261174
UR  - https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3211.261174
AB  - We describe a fatal Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis case in a 3-year-old boy in Georgia, USA, receiving chemotherapy for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, hospitalized with febrile neutropenia. Plasma microbial cell-free DNA sequencing confirmed the diagnosis. This report highlights the need to maintain suspicion for tickborne diseases in immunocompromised hosts in some settings.
SN  - 1080-6040
SN  - 1080-6059
ER  -

Abstract

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