Mediterranean spotted fever in Marseille: descriptive epidemiology and the influence of climatic factors.

The authors report the general epidemiologic features of Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) in the Marseille area (South France). Age was a risk factor, increasing after 50 years, and annual incidence seemed positively correlated with the average temperature of the preceding year and negatively correlated with the number of days with frost of the preceding year. However, correlations were not significant.