TULAREMIA

Overview and Facts

Tularemia is a rare infectious disease that usually targets the eyes, lymph nodes, lungs, and skin. Other names for the disease include rabbit fever or deer fly fever.

Mammals, especially rodents, rabbits and hares, are at risk of being infected with the disease. However, the disease could also infect even domestic animals, such as cats, dogs, and hamsters. These animals could be vectors for the said disease. It can spread to humans through several modes of transmission. Though being highly contagious and potentially deadly, if it is diagnosed and treated early with specific antibiotics, complications could be avoided.

Types and Symptoms

Ulceroglandular tularemia
Glandular tularemia
Oculoglandular tularemia
Oropharyngeal tularemia
Pneumonic tularemia
Typhoidal tularemia

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms in infected individuals begin to manifest within three to five days, though other cases may take as long as 14 days. Different types of tularemia exist. Which type of tularemia that you acquire depends on what mode of transmission you have acquired the pathogen.

Ulceroglandular

Signs and symptoms usually include:

Exhaustion
A skin ulcer at the site of infection
Chills
Swollen and painful lymph glands
Fever
Headache

Glandular

Glandular tularemia shares the same set of symptoms with ulceroglandular tularemia.

Oculoglandular

This form affects the eyes and may cause:

Sensitivity to light
Eye redness
Eye swelling and discharge
An ulcer on the inside of the eyelid
Eye pain

Oropharyngeal

Signs and symptoms include:

Mouth ulcers
Throat pain
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Inflamed tonsils
Fever
Swollen lymph nodes in the neck

Pneumonic

This type of it causes signs and symptoms characteristic of pneumonia:

Dry cough
Difficulty breathing
Chest pain

Typhoidal

This rare and serious form of the disease usually causes:

Enlarged liver (hepatomegaly)
Extreme exhaustion
Enlarged spleen (splenomegaly)
Vomiting and diarrhea
High fever
Pneumonia

Diagnosis & Medications

It may be difficult to identify and diagnose, as it shares a lot of symptoms with other diseases. Thus, ruling out other causes is crucial in having a definitive diagnosis. Doctors usually order a sputum exam or blood culture to check whether there is the presence of F. tularensis.

Sometimes, tularemia can be identified by checking elevated levels of antibodies in your blood. Your doctor will probably order a chest X-ray to look for signs of pneumonia.

TREATMENT

The standard treatment for this is with antibiotics such as gentamicin or streptomycin which is administered intravenously or intramuscularly. Depending on the severity of the infection, doctors can sometimes prescribe oral antibiotics such as doxycycline instead.

There are also treatments for complications of it such as pneumonia and meningitis. You should acquire immunity after recovering from the disease. However, some individuals could experience recurrence or reinfection.