| Relapsing fever |
| Classification and external resources |
| ICD-10 |
A68 |
| ICD-9 |
087 |
| DiseasesDB |
1547 |
| MedlinePlus |
001350 |
| eMedicine |
emerg/590 med/1999 |
| MeSH |
D012061 |
Relapsing fever is an infection caused by certain bacteria in the genus Rickettsia and Borrelia.[1]
It is a vector-borne disease transmitted through the bites of lice or soft-bodied ticks (genus Ornithodoros).[2]
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Contents
- 1 Infection
- 1.1 Louse-borne relapsing fever
- 1.2 Tick-borne relapsing fever
- 2 Diagnosis
- 3 Treatment
- 4 History
- 5 See also
- 6 References
- 7 External links
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Infection
Louse-borne relapsing fever
Along with Rickettsia prowazekii and Bartonella quintana, Borrelia recurrentis is one of three pathogens of which the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) is a vector.[3] Louse-borne relapsing fever is more severe than the tick-borne variety.[citation needed]
Louse-borne relapsing fever occurs in epidemics amid poor living conditions, famine and war in the developing world.[4] It is currently prevalent in Ethiopia and Sudan.
Mortality rate is 1% with treatment and 30-70% without treatment. Poor prognostic signs include severe jaundice, severe change in mental status, severe bleeding and a prolonged QT interval on ECG.
Lice that feed on infected humans acquire the Borrelia organisms that then multiply in the gut of the louse. When an infected louse feeds on an uninfected human, the organism gains access when the victim crushes the louse or scratches the area where the louse is feeding. B. recurrentis infects the person via mucous membranes and then invades the bloodstream. No animal reservoir exists.
Tick-borne relapsing fever
Tick-borne relapsing fever is found primarily in Africa, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Asia in and certain areas of Canada and the western United States.
Other relapsing infections are acquired from other Borrelia species, which can be spread from rodents, and serve as a reservoir for the infection, via a tick vector.
- Borrelia crocidurae - occurs in Egypt, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia; vectors - Ornithodoros erraticus, Ornithodoros sonrai; animal host - shrew (Crocidura stampflii)
- Borrelia duttoni, transmitted by the soft-bodied African tick Ornithodoros moubata, is responsible for the relapsing fever found in central, eastern and southern Africa.
- Borrelia hermsii
- Borrelia hispanica
- Borrelia miyamotoi [5]
- Borrelia parkeri
Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia recurrentis cause very similar diseases. However, one or two relapses are common with the disease associated with Borrelia hermsii which is also the most common cause of relapsing disease in the United States. (Three or four relapses are common with the disease caused by B. recurrentis. B. recurrentis has longer febrile and afebrile intervals and a longer incubation period than Borrelia hermsii.)
Diagnosis
Most people who are infected develop sickness between 5 and 15 days after they are bitten. The symptoms may include a sudden fever, chills, headaches, muscle or joint aches and nausea. A rash may also occur. These symptoms usually continue for between 2 to 9 days, then disappear. This cycle may continue for several weeks if the person is not treated.[6] Relapsing fever is easily treated with a one-to-two week course of antibiotics and most people improve within 24 hours commencement. Complications and death due to relapsing fever are rare.
Relapsing fever is a candidate etiology for a mysterious series of plagues in late-medieval and early-renaissance England. At the time, they were called sweating sicknesses. They have not recurred in epidemic form since the 16th century.
Treatment
Tetracycline-class antibiotics are most effective. These can, however, induce a Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction in over half those treated, producing anxiety, diaphoresis, fever, tachycardia and tachypnea with an initial pressor response followed rapidly by hypotension. Recent studies have shown that tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) may be partly responsible for this reaction.
History
The physician David Livingstone is credited with the first account in 1857 of a malady associated with the bite of soft ticks in Angola and Mozambique.[7] In 1904 and 1905 a series of papers outlined the cause of relapsing fever and its relations with ticks.[8][9][10][11] Both J. Everett Dutton and John Todd contracted relapsing fever while performing autopsies while working in the eastern region of the Congo Free State. Dutton died there on February 27, 1905. The cause of tick-borne relapsing fever across central Africa was named Spirillum duttoni.[12] In 1984 it was renamed Borrelia duttoni.[13]
See also
References
- ^ Schwan T (1996). "Ticks and Borrelia: model systems for investigating pathogen-arthropod interactions". Infect Agents Dis 5 (3): 167–81. PMID 8805079.
- ^ Schwan T, Piesman J (2002). "Vector interactions and molecular adaptations of Lyme disease and relapsing fever spirochetes associated with transmission by ticks". Emerg Infect Dis 8 (2): 115–21. doi:10.3201/eid0802.010198. PMC 2732444. PMID 11897061. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol8no2/01-0198.htm.
- ^ Fournier, Pierre-Edouard. "Human Pathogens in Body and Head Lice". http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol8no12/02-0111.htm. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
- ^ Cutler S (2006). "Possibilities for relapsing fever reemergence". Emerg Infect Dis 12 (3): 369–74. PMID 16704771.
- ^ McNeil, Donald (19 September 2011). "New Tick-Borne Disease Is Discovered". The New York Times: pp. D6. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/health/20tick.html. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ^ Ryan KJ; Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. pp. 432–4. ISBN 0-8385-8529-9.
- ^ Livingstone D (1857) Missionary travels and researches in South Africa. London: John Murray
- ^ Cook AR (1904) Relapsing fever in Uganda. J Trop Med Hyg 7: 24–26
- ^ Ross PH, Milne AD (1904) Tick fever. BMJ 2: 1453–1454
- ^ Dutton JE, Todd JL (1905) The nature of human tick-fever in the eastern part of the Congo Free State with notes on the distribution and bionomics of the tick. Liverpool School Trop Med Mem 17: 1–18
- ^ Wellman FC (1905) Case of relapsing fever, with remarks on its occurrence in the tropics and its relation to “tick fever”. J Trop Med 8: 97–99
- ^ Novy FG, Knapp RE (1906) Studies on Spirillum obermeieri and related organisms. J Infect Dis 3: 291–393
- ^ Kelly RT (1984) Genus IV. Borrelia Swellengrebel 1907 In: Krieg NR, editor. Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins
External links
- Relapsing+fever at eMedicine Dictionary
- CDC: Relapsing Fever
- Scientist and astronomer Larry Webster infected with relapsing fever
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Infectious diseases · Bacterial diseases: BV4 non-proteobacterial G- (primarily A00–A79, 001–041, 080–109)
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| Spirochaete |
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Spirochaetaceae
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Treponema
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Treponema pallidum (Syphilis/Bejel, Yaws) · Treponema carateum (Pinta) · Treponema denticola
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Borrelia
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Borrelia burgdorferi/Borrelia afzelii (Lyme disease, Erythema chronicum migrans, Neuroborreliosis)
Borrelia recurrentis (Louse borne relapsing fever) · Borrelia hermsii/Borrelia duttoni/Borrelia parkeri (Tick borne relapsing fever)
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Leptospiraceae
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Leptospira
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Leptospira interrogans (Leptospirosis)
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Spirillaceae
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Spirillum
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Spirillum minus (Rat-bite fever/Sodoku)
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| Chlamydiaceae |
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Chlamydophila
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Chlamydophila psittaci (Psittacosis) · Chlamydophila pneumoniae
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Chlamydia
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Chlamydia trachomatis (Chlamydia, Lymphogranuloma venereum, Trachoma)
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| Bacteroidetes |
Bacteroides fragilis · Bacteroides forsythus · Capnocytophaga canimorsus · Porphyromonas gingivalis · Prevotella intermedia
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| Fusobacteria |
Fusobacterium necrophorum (Lemierre's syndrome) · Fusobacterium nucleatum · Fusobacterium polymorphum
Streptobacillus moniliformis (Rat-bite fever/Haverhill fever)
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gr+f/gr+a (t)/gr-p (c)/gr-o
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drug (J1p, w, n, m, vacc)
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Zoonosis: Tick-borne diseases and mite-borne diseases
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Bacterial infection
(all G-) |
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Rickettsiales
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- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- Ehrlichiosis (Human granulocytic, Human monocytic)
- Boutonneuse fever
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Spirochaete
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- Lyme disease
- Relapsing fever
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Thiotrichales
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| Viral infection |
- Colorado tick fever
- Tick-borne encephalitis
- Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
- Omsk hemorrhagic fever
- Kyasanur forest disease
- Powassan encephalitis
- Heartland virus
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| Protozoan infection |
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| Neurotoxin |
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| General |
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| Vectors |
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Ticks
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- Ixodes: Ixodes scapularis
- Ixodes holocyclus
- Ixodes pacificus
- Ixodes ricinus
- Dermacentor: Dermacentor variabilis
- Dermacentor andersoni
- Amblyomma: Amblyomma americanum
- Amblyomma cajennense
- Ornithodoros: Ornithodoros moubata
- Ornithodoros hermsi
- other: Rhipicephalus sanguineus
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Mites
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- Leptotrombidium deliense
- Liponyssoides sanguineus
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