Mediterranean spotted fever--classification by disease course and criteria for determining the disease severity.

Introduction: Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) in Bulgaria is caused by Ricketsia conorii conorii with a major vector the dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus. The first cases of re-emerging MSF were reported in this country in the early 1990s after some 20 years of absence and then registered an annual increase until 2001-2003 after which the disease prevalence declined. MSF still poses a serious health problem in the country as severe, complicated cases with lethal outcome occur.

Dynamics in serum cytokine responses during acute and convalescent stages of Mediterranean spotted fever.

Unlabelled: Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is a re-emerging rickettsiosis in Bulgaria after 20 years of absence (1972-1992), and it has since been affecting many people annually in the endemic regions of the country. The role of cytokines in MSF is still in the focus of research due to their complex participation in the immune pathogenesis of the disease.

Aim: To study the changes in the serum cytokine concentrations in MSF patients.

HIV/AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma with multiple skin-mucosal disseminations following ultraviolet (puva) photochemotherapy.

Unlabelled: HIV/AIDS infection in Bulgaria has spread over about 1200 registered patients and it is supposed that the number of the undetected cases is four times higher. Kaposi's sarcoma is rarely observed in our country and no cutaneous-mucosal dissemination is reported for the time being.

Aim: The aim of the study is to present a case of disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma in a HIV/ AIDS patient who underwent Psoralen--UVA radiation treatment (PUVA) for total alopecia.