Ehrlichiosis: Difference between revisions
(See also) |
|||
Line 30: | Line 30: | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
[[ | [[Tick Borne Illnesses]] | ||
==Sources== | ==Sources== |
Revision as of 05:11, 9 December 2013
Background
- Bacterial infection of the family Anaplasmataceae
- Spread by the Lon1estar tick (Amblyomma americanum)
- Eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine and as far west as Iowa and Texas
- People often unaware they are bitten
- Case fatality rate is approximately 1.8%
- More severe disease in immunocompromized patients (HIV, Elderly, Asplenic)
Symptoms
- Fever, chills, headache, malaise, myalgias, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, conjunctival injection
- Up to 60% of children may have a rash (30% of adults)
Diagnosis
- Obligate intracellular organism
- Peripheral blood smear shows intracellular parasites only 20% of time
- PCR
- Most sensitive in first week of illness
- Indirect Immunoflorescence Assay
- Gold Standard
- Negative 85% of time in first 7 days of illness
- Compare 2 samples drawn at different times
- 4 fold increase in titers of second draw is positive
- Enzyme Immunoassay
- Qualitative tests, not quantitative
Treatment
- Doxycycline
- 100mg BID (Adults)
- 2.2mg/kg BID (children)
See also
Sources
- Wikipedia
- cdc.gov/parastites/ehrlichiosis
- uptodate.com