What is the most common rickettsial disease?
Although the most commonly diagnosed rickettsial diseases in travelers are usually in the spotted fever or typhus groups, travelers may acquire a wide range of rickettsioses, including emerging and newly recognized species not well known by many health care providers (see Table 4-19).
What causes Rickettsial Disease?
Rickettsiae and rickettsia-like bacteria are usually spread to people through the bites of ticks, mites, fleas, or lice that previously fed on an infected animal. Ticks, mites, fleas, and lice are called vectors because they spread (transmit) organisms that cause disease from one host to another.
What are symptoms of rickettsial disease?
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Most tick-borne rickettsial diseases cause sudden fever, chills, and headache (possibly severe). These symptoms commonly are associated with malaise and myalgia. Nausea, vomiting, and anorexia are common in early illness, especially with RMSF and HME.
What infection does Rickettsia cause?
Rickettsia species cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever, rickettsialpox, other spotted fevers, epidemic typhus, and murine typhus. Orientia (formerly Rickettsia) tsutsugamushi causes scrub typhus.
Can Rickettsia be cured?
Doxycycline is the drug of choice recommended by both CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases to treat suspected rickettsial disease in children. A recent study found that short courses of doxycycline (5–10 days) did not result in staining of permanent teeth or enamel hypoplasia.
How long does Rickettsia last?
RMSF frequently begins with a sudden onset of moderate to high fever (which can last for 2 or 3 weeks), headache, abdominal pain, vomiting, and muscle pain. A rash may also develop, but is often absent in the first few days, and in some patients never develops.
What happens if Rickettsia is left untreated?
When left untreated, the bacteria can cause damage to blood vessels throughout the body leading to organ and tissue damage. RMSF can be fatal, even in previously healthy people. If not treated correctly, death can often occur within eight days of symptoms starting.
Is Rickettsia bacteria or virus?
The rickettsiae are rod-shaped or variably spherical, nonfilterable bacteria, and most species are gram-negative. They are natural parasites of certain arthropods (notably lice, fleas, mites, and ticks) and can cause serious diseases—usually characterized by acute self-limiting fevers—in humans and other animals.
Can you recover from Rickettsia?
How long does it take to recover? Rickettsial infections can last from one to several weeks. Medication has to be administered to the affected person in the first week itself. This disease can linger for months if a person is not treated or if his/her treatment does not begin in time.