Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is a topic covered in the 5-Minute Emergency Consult.

To view the entire topic, please or .

Emergency Central is a collection of disease, drug, and test information including 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult, Davis’s Drug, McGraw-Hill Medical’s Diagnosaurus®, Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests, and MEDLINE Journals created for emergency medicine professionals. Explore these free sample topics:

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

Basics

Description

Rickettsial invasion of small blood vessels:
  • Causes direct vascular damage
  • Superimposed additional vascular damage/vasculitis due to immunologic phenomena

Etiology

  • Acute infection by Rickettsia rickettsii via tick vector:
    • Dermacentor andersoni (wood tick) in the western states
    • Dermacentor variabilis (dog tick) in the eastern states
  • Reported in all states; 1/2 of cases occur in 5 states (NC, SC, TN, OK, AR), as well as parts of Central America and South America
  • More common April–September, but can occur any month
  • More common in males and in individuals 40–64 yr of age

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or --

Basics

Description

Rickettsial invasion of small blood vessels:
  • Causes direct vascular damage
  • Superimposed additional vascular damage/vasculitis due to immunologic phenomena

Etiology

  • Acute infection by Rickettsia rickettsii via tick vector:
    • Dermacentor andersoni (wood tick) in the western states
    • Dermacentor variabilis (dog tick) in the eastern states
  • Reported in all states; 1/2 of cases occur in 5 states (NC, SC, TN, OK, AR), as well as parts of Central America and South America
  • More common April–September, but can occur any month
  • More common in males and in individuals 40–64 yr of age

There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.