Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Consult your

doctor!

Description

A tick-borne bacterial disease called Rickettsia, causes vessels to leak. It affects the cells in the lining of your blood vessels.

http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/mayer/rick1.jpg

Symptoms

Symptoms vary from every person but most victims endure severe headaches, high fevers, nausea, vomiting, and muscle pain.

After a few days a rash will appear on the wrists and ankles and later spread over your entire body.

Causes

This illness is caused by the bite of an infected tick.

http://hardinmd.lib.uiowa.edu/cdc/5448.html

Cure and worst case scenario

If caught soon enough the fever can be taken care of through early treatment of antibiotics.

Doxycycline is the first medication used.

If not treated it can cause serious damage to internal organs, and in severe cases death.

3 Facts

1. First identified in the Rocky Mountain wood tick which gave it its name.

2. most commonly found in south eastern parts of the united states as well as Canada, Mexico, and South America.

3. was originally called “black measles” because of how the rash looked in the late stages.

Sources

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever/DS00600

http://www.cdc.gov/rmsf/symptoms/ http://hardinmd.lib.uiowa.edu/cdc/54

48.html http://

hardinmd.lib.uiowa.edu/pictures22/cdc/PHIL_1962_lores.jpg

http://cdn2.justchromatography.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/petechial-rash.jpg