Volume 91 Number 1

Letters to the Editor

16 3

Editorial correspondence

"Editorial Correspondence" or letters to the Editor relative to articles published in the JOURNAL or to topics of current interest are subject to critical review and to current editorial policy in respect to publication in part or in full.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever and the avoidance of sulfonarnides

United States. Several explanations have been offered, each of which may help explain the rise in reported cases. During the 1950s and early 1960s the tetracyclines and chloramphenicol were widely used for many patients with acute febrile illnesses. This practice may have aborted incipient cases of RMSF; these compounds are the most effective anti-rickettsial agents known, Sulfonamides are well known to have a markedly enhancing effect on the multiplication of rickettsia resulting in increased

To the Editor." There has been a consistent rise in the number of cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) annually reported in the

ROCKY M O U N T A I N SPOlrTED FEVER (TtCI(-I:~;()I::INE 'f'YPHLIS). F~el,~O,ted (;.~se'; by Y(;a.r, lJ,,it,~.,.d Stal.es, 1950..-1915 900"

800

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600

500

400

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30C