Murine typhus mistaken for COVID-19 in a young man.
BMJ Case Rep
; 13(11)2020 Nov 03.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1186251
ABSTRACT
Fever is a widely recognised presenting symptom of COVID-19. Consequently, other febrile illnesses may be difficult to distinguish from COVID-19-leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment. One such illness is murine typhus, a fleaborne illness with worldwide distribution caused by Rickettsia typhi It often presents with fever, headache and myalgia, all of which have been commonly reported with COVID-19. Although the disease is usually mild with a good prognosis, there have been reports of severe illness and death. I present a case of murine typhus in a young male who had 2 weeks of headaches and daily fevers during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was ultimately tested for murine typhus when his occupation as a dog trainer was queried, and he experienced resolution of symptoms after treatment with doxycycline. During this pandemic, clinicians must be vigilant of other febrile illnesses whose symptoms overlap with COVID-19.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Rickettsia typhi
/
Typhus, Endemic Flea-Borne
/
Occupational Exposure
/
Doxycycline
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Fever
Type of study:
Case report
/
Diagnostic study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Animals
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bcr-2020-239471
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS