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Rickettsiosis subcommittee report to the tick-borne disease working group.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Walker, DH; Myers, CTE; Blanton, LS; Bloch, KC; Fowler, VG; Gaines, DN; Paddock, CD; Yaglom, HD
Published in: Ticks Tick Borne Dis
January 2022

Tick-borne rickettsial infections are serious, common, and difficult to diagnose. Among the most important factors leading to failure to diagnose and treat tick-borne rickettsioses effectively is a lack of consideration of the potential diagnosis by primary caregivers and emergency department physicians in patients presenting with undifferentiated acute febrile illness during tick season. This situation exists because of insufficient primary and continuing medical education of medical students, primary care and emergency medicine residents, and practicing physicians regarding tick-borne rickettsioses specific to the region where they practice. Delayed initiation of treatment with an appropriate antibiotic is associated with adverse outcomes including increased rates of hospitalization, admission to an intensive care unit, and mortality. The earliest symptoms are nonspecific, consisting of fever, headache, myalgias, and nausea and/or vomiting. Laboratory abnormalities are typically absent at this time when the therapeutic response to an appropriate antibiotic would be optimal. There is a mistaken idea among a substantial portion of physicians that the best antibiotic available, doxycycline, should not be administered to children 8 years of age or younger or during pregnancy. For all of the above reasons, there is unnecessary morbidity and mortality caused by tick-borne rickettsioses. This report proposes measures to address these critical issues regarding tick-borne rickettsioses.

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Published In

Ticks Tick Borne Dis

DOI

EISSN

1877-9603

Publication Date

January 2022

Volume

13

Issue

1

Start / End Page

101855

Location

Netherlands

Related Subject Headings

  • Ticks
  • Tick-Borne Diseases
  • Rickettsia Infections
  • Rickettsia
  • Physicians
  • Humans
  • Child
  • Animals
  • 3107 Microbiology
  • 1108 Medical Microbiology
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Walker, D. H., Myers, C. T. E., Blanton, L. S., Bloch, K. C., Fowler, V. G., Gaines, D. N., … Yaglom, H. D. (2022). Rickettsiosis subcommittee report to the tick-borne disease working group. Ticks Tick Borne Dis, 13(1), 101855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101855
Walker, David H., Cdr Todd E. Myers, Lucas S. Blanton, Karen C. Bloch, Vance G. Fowler, David N. Gaines, Christopher D. Paddock, and Hayley D. Yaglom. “Rickettsiosis subcommittee report to the tick-borne disease working group.Ticks Tick Borne Dis 13, no. 1 (January 2022): 101855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101855.
Walker DH, Myers CTE, Blanton LS, Bloch KC, Fowler VG, Gaines DN, et al. Rickettsiosis subcommittee report to the tick-borne disease working group. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2022 Jan;13(1):101855.
Walker, David H., et al. “Rickettsiosis subcommittee report to the tick-borne disease working group.Ticks Tick Borne Dis, vol. 13, no. 1, Jan. 2022, p. 101855. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101855.
Walker DH, Myers CTE, Blanton LS, Bloch KC, Fowler VG, Gaines DN, Paddock CD, Yaglom HD. Rickettsiosis subcommittee report to the tick-borne disease working group. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2022 Jan;13(1):101855.
Journal cover image

Published In

Ticks Tick Borne Dis

DOI

EISSN

1877-9603

Publication Date

January 2022

Volume

13

Issue

1

Start / End Page

101855

Location

Netherlands

Related Subject Headings

  • Ticks
  • Tick-Borne Diseases
  • Rickettsia Infections
  • Rickettsia
  • Physicians
  • Humans
  • Child
  • Animals
  • 3107 Microbiology
  • 1108 Medical Microbiology