Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: Clinical, Laboratory, and Epidemiological Features of 262 Cases

Most previous reports of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) have included cases either not laboratory confirmed or confirmed by relatively weak diagnostic criteria. In the present study detailed epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory features of 262 confirmed or highly probable cases of RMSF rep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 1984-10, Vol.150 (4), p.480-488
Main Authors: Helmick, Charles G., Bernard, Kenneth W., D'Angelo, Lawrence J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Bacterial diseases
Biological and medical sciences
Bites and Stings - complications
Child
Child, Preschool
Diseases
Epidemiology
Exanthema
Female
Fever
Headache
Human bacterial diseases
Humans
Infant
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Original Articles
Physicians
Rickettsia rickettsii
Rickettsial diseases
Rocky Mountain spotted fever
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - diagnosis
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - epidemiology
Symptoms
Ticks
Time Factors
Tropical bacterial diseases
Tropical medicine
United States
Viral diseases
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Summary:Most previous reports of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) have included cases either not laboratory confirmed or confirmed by relatively weak diagnostic criteria. In the present study detailed epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory features of 262 confirmed or highly probable cases of RMSF reported from six states from 1977 to 1980 were analyzed. This analysis revealed that early clinical diagnosis of RMSF is difficult because the illness may have a gradual or an abrupt onset, the symptoms and signs may be unusual in timing or frequency, and the clinical appearance may vary depending on such factors as age and location of residence. RMSF was diagnosed later in those who died than in survivors, primarily because of atypical initial symptoms and the late onset of rash. RMSF should be considered in any individual who, during the spring and summer, has been in RMSF-endemic areas and develops a fever, regardless of the absence of rash or history of tick exposure.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1093/infdis/150.4.480