{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T01:56:18Z","timestamp":1777946178843,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Tunisian Society of Medical Sciences","issue":"04","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777507200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Tunis Med"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Doxycycline is considered as the standard treatment of rickettsiosis. Fluoroquinolones used as an alternative therapy, until recent studies have shown that Fluoroquinolones are associated with a deleterious outcome.Objectives: To compare therapeutic efficacy and safety of fluoroquinolones and doxycycline in the treatment of RickettsiosisMethods: we conducted an open-label randomized controlled multicenter study. This study aim to compare the efficacy and safety of oral ciprofloxacin (1000 mg\/day) or ofloxacin (400mp\/day) in 2 doses with those of oral doxycycline (200mg\/day) once daily for 3 to 10 days, accordingto the severity of illness, in the treatment of Rickettsioses, We included patients more than 15 year-old who presented the characteristic clinical triad (eschar + rash + fever) and\/or microbiological confirmation (positive serology and\/or positive qPCR).Results: Among 112 enrolled patients, 82 retained. Thirty-four patients received fluoroquinolones and 48 received doxycycline. Patients in both groups were comparable with respect to age. Two severe cases were noted with fluoroquinolones (meningitis = one, encephalitis= 1) and three with doxycycline (myocarditis=one, severe sepsis = l and encephalitis =1) .|The defervescence period was 2.6 + 1.04 days in the doxycyclinegroup and2.31.09 days in the fluoroquinolones group (p20.05). All patients recovered. One patient treated by doxycycline had a digital necrosis, generating amputation.Conclusions: Both fluoroquinolones and doxycycline were effective for treating patients with rickettsia infections. Even that doxycycline remains the standard of treatment, with the advantage of a single daily dose; fluoroquinolones are an interesting alternative with no deleterious outcome.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.62438\/tunismed.v104i04.6328","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T15:55:37Z","timestamp":1777650937000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Fluoroquinolones versus doxycycline in the treatment of rickettsial infection: A Tunisian multicenter prospective study"],"prefix":"10.62438","volume":"104","author":[{"given":"Nadia","family":"Ben Lasfar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Manel","family":"Ben Selma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mariem","family":"Ben Ticha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mounir","family":"Ben Jemaa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lamia","family":"Ammeri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maha","family":"Abid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Amel","family":"Letaief","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wissem","family":"Hachfi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"31112","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]]},"container-title":["La Tunisie M\u00e9dicale"],"original-title":[],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T15:55:50Z","timestamp":1777737350000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.latunisiemedicale.com\/index.php\/tunismed\/article\/view\/6328"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"04","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.62438\/tunismed.v104i04.6328","relation":{},"ISSN":["2724-7031","0041-4131"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2724-7031","type":"electronic"},{"value":"0041-4131","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]]}}}