Ehrlichiosis
Ehrlichiosis is a tick-borne bacterial infection, caused by bacteria of the family Anaplasmataceae, genera Ehrlichia and Anaplasma. These obligate intracellular bacteria infect and kill white blood cells.
Ehrlichiosis | |
---|---|
The lone star tick, which is one of three ticks that can spread Ehrlichiosis. It is characterized by the white dot on its back. | |
Specialty | Infectious diseases |
Symptoms | Fever, chills, severe headaches, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, confusion, and splotchy or pinpoint rash. More severe symptoms include brain or nervous system damage, respiratory failure, uncontrollable bleeding, organ failure, and death. |
Causes | Bite from an infected tick |
Risk factors | Age, being immunocompromised, having received an organ transplant, and certain medications |
The average reported annual incidence is on the order of 2.3 cases per million people.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.