Picture This

Tick, Tick, Boom

Clinician Reviews. 2017 November;27(11):39
PDF Download

 

3. A 42-year-old Native American farmer in Arizona has a reddish purple petechial rash on his ankles and feet. Upon questioning, he reports that about three weeks ago he had a slight fever with headache and malaise. Then, last week, he noticed small, flat, pink, nonitchy macules on his wrists, forearms, and ankles; they are now spreading to the trunk.

3. A 42-year-old Native American farmer in Arizona has a reddish purple petechial rash on his ankles and feet. Upon questioning, he reports that about three weeks ago he had a slight fever with headache and malaise. Then, last week, he noticed small, flat, pink, nonitchy macules on his wrists, forearms, and ankles; they are now spreading to the trunk image

Source: CDC
[https://www.cdc.gov/rmsf/symptoms/index.html]

Diagnosis: Rocky Mountain spotted fever, now reported to the CDC as spotted fever rickettsiosis, is a tick-borne illness caused by the gram-negative intracellular bacterium Rickettsia rickettsia. It is endemic in the Southeastern and South Central United States. Most cases occur between April and September, coinciding with the active season of the vector tick species. Early diagnosis is critical because untreated RMSF may progress to fulminant systemic illness.

For more information, see “Fever and Rash in a 3-Year-Old Girl: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.” Cutis. 2002;70(3):165-168.

Pages

Next Article:

Scratching the Surface of the Problem

Related Articles

  • Picture This

    Oral Cues to Disease

    The eyes may be the window to the soul, but the mouth speaks volumes about the body. See how oral conditions provide clues to the bigger picture...

  • Picture This

    Young & Crusty

    Kids have the darndest diagnoses—see if you can match each one to the right picture.