Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
A rare infectious disease caused by the parasite rickettsia (similar to bacteria) and characterized by a spotted rash. The disease is transmitted from ticks to rabbits and other small mammals, most often in wooded areas along the Atlantic coast. The rickettsia are carried by the dog tick in the eastern United States and by the wood tick in the Rocky Mountain states; the lone star tick is sometimes a carrier in the West.
The disease gets its name from its discovery in a the Rocky Mountain lab, but its incidence of the disease has been rising steadily since 1980; there are more than 1,000 cases reported each year all over the country.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis may be difficult because the disease resembles several other infections. The diagnosis can be confirmed by taking at least two different blood samples several weeks apart and identifying antibodies against the infection. Because it usually takes many days for these tests to show positive results, treatment generally begins before test results are available.
Symptoms
Mild fever, loss of appetite, and slight headache may develop slowly about a week after a tick bite. However, sometimes symptoms appear suddenly— high fever, prostration, aching, tender muscles, severe headache, nausea, and vomiting. Two to six days after symptoms appear, small spots appear on wrists and ankles, spreading centrally over the rest of the body. As the infection progresses, the original red spots may begin to look more like bruises or bloody patches under the skin. The illness subsides after about two weeks, but untreated cases with very high fever may be fatal as a result of PNEUMONIA or heart failure.
Treatment
Before antibiotic treatment was available, between 20 percent and 30 percent of patients would die. Today, drugs such as tetracycline or chloramphenicol usually cure the disease. Treatment in an intensive care unit may also be necessary for children with abnormal bleeding or for complications that affect the brain, heart, lungs, liver, or kidneys.
Prevention
People in tick-infested areas should use insect repellent and examine themselves daily for ticks.
The disease gets its name from its discovery in a the Rocky Mountain lab, but its incidence of the disease has been rising steadily since 1980; there are more than 1,000 cases reported each year all over the country.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis may be difficult because the disease resembles several other infections. The diagnosis can be confirmed by taking at least two different blood samples several weeks apart and identifying antibodies against the infection. Because it usually takes many days for these tests to show positive results, treatment generally begins before test results are available.
Symptoms
Mild fever, loss of appetite, and slight headache may develop slowly about a week after a tick bite. However, sometimes symptoms appear suddenly— high fever, prostration, aching, tender muscles, severe headache, nausea, and vomiting. Two to six days after symptoms appear, small spots appear on wrists and ankles, spreading centrally over the rest of the body. As the infection progresses, the original red spots may begin to look more like bruises or bloody patches under the skin. The illness subsides after about two weeks, but untreated cases with very high fever may be fatal as a result of PNEUMONIA or heart failure.
Treatment
Before antibiotic treatment was available, between 20 percent and 30 percent of patients would die. Today, drugs such as tetracycline or chloramphenicol usually cure the disease. Treatment in an intensive care unit may also be necessary for children with abnormal bleeding or for complications that affect the brain, heart, lungs, liver, or kidneys.
Prevention
People in tick-infested areas should use insect repellent and examine themselves daily for ticks.
Tags: bacteria, parasite rickettsia, rare infectious disease, ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER, spotted rash
Posted in Health and Wellness
