Relapsing fever is one of spirochetoses. The main feature of the pathology are exacerbations, which are replaced by remissions. Pathology can provoke several types of fever, namely endemic, tick-borne, epidemic, or lousy.
Signs of pathology
The main symptoms of typhoid fever include the following:
- fever;
- intoxication of the body;
- rashes on the skin;
- slight jaundice;
- hepatosplenomegaly.
In order to be able to make the correct diagnosis and determine the causative agent of relapsing fever, it is necessary to conduct a thorough blood test. If a person has this disease, then spirochetes will be present in the blood. For treatment, antibiotics are necessarily used.
Relapsing fever is common throughout the world, and in some countries there are even outbreaks of the disease. People from countries with low living standards are most at risk of infection. It is in Africa that the most common type of relapsing fever and its most dangerous form.
General information about the disease
This disease is considered infectious and has some features:
- typhoid fever occurs polycyclic;
- bouts of fever are followed by periods of calm;
- Two infections can simultaneously be causative agents of typhoid fever - tick-borne, lousy.
Both types of this disease are similar to each other by manifestations, mode of transmission and structure of pathogens. The causative agent of relapsing fever is spirochetes, which very quickly penetrate the bloodstream and multiply at an incredible speed.
Causes of the disease
Pathology begins to develop immediately after the causative agent of typhoid fever enters the human body - Obermeyer spirochetes. It has the shape of a spiral, which consists of 4-8 turns and is characterized by strong mobility. The source of infection is a sick person who is very dangerous during a fever. Lousy relapsing fever is more severe and can cause many complications. Body lice are carriers of the causative agents of typhus and relapsing fever. A healthy person can become infected when an already infected insect is crushed. The causative agent of relapsing fever refers to spirochetes of the genus Borrelia, which can penetrate the human body through minor wounds or scratching on the body.
Relapsing fever begins to spread rapidly if basic hygiene rules are not followed. Places where there are many people will always be considered dangerous.
The causative agent of tick-borne tick-borne relapsing fever can be transmitted through rodents on which vector ticks live. It is worth noting that spirochetes live with rodents for the rest of their lives and even their offspring are infected. This type of disease does not provoke an epidemic, and the most common pathology is in Africa, Asia, Latin America.
Symptoms of the disease
The incubation period of the disease can take 3-21 days, after which the patient develops a fever. The temperature begins to rise rapidly to high levels, there is a chill. Along with fever, pain and weakness in the muscles of the legs, severe headaches and insomnia appear.
When the fever reaches its peak, signs of conjunctivitis begin to appear, the face turns red, a rash appears, nosebleeds can become more frequent. The main symptom is the increased humidity of the tongue. It begins to swell and become covered with a dense coating of white. It is very easy to remove, but literally an hour later it appears again.
The liver and spleen begin to increase rapidly in size, and jaundice manifests itself already 5 days after infection. This can be explained by the destruction of cells in the liver and spleen, the formation of necrosis in the affected areas.
Due to the bactericidal properties of blood, pathogens begin to break down, which leads to general intoxication of the body, circulatory system and central nervous system. A person begins to worry about severe vomiting, diarrhea with mucus, oliguria.
The first time the duration of the fever is 5-8 days, then there comes a lull period lasting 1-2 weeks. After the fever subsides, the sick person begins to complain of low blood pressure and hyperhidrosis. At the same time, the tongue begins to clear itself of plaque, appetite appears, and signs of intoxication gradually disappear.
Special cases
During apyrexia, a person feels much better, but at the same time, malaise and weakness remain. After this, a second attack of fever begins with the same symptoms. On average, it lasts no more than 4 days, and the interval without fever gradually increases. Attacks can be repeated 3-5 times.
Some patients may have only one bout of fever. This can be explained by timely medical care and the right therapy. If there is no treatment, then the disease progresses very quickly, and the number of fever attacks increases to 10 or more.
Complications caused by relapsing fever are dangerous to human life. Sometimes spleen rupture can occur, which causes severe bleeding. If surgery does not occur in time, then the risk of death is too high. Due to rupture of the spleen, biliary typhoid may begin to develop. Its course can be septic or typhoid.
In the presence of a typhoid form, the patient develops jaundice, a hemorrhagic rash, and during apyrexia the temperature does not drop. The septic form provokes a defeat in the abscess of internal organs, as well as the development of pneumonia, myocarditis. Biliary typhoid can also be fatal.
Forecast for infected
Today, relapsing fever is successfully treated. In this case, a fatal outcome or complications can be observed in every hundredth patient or even less. Particularly dangerous infection can be during pregnancy. Pathology provokes the opening of bleeding in the uterus or premature birth.
Other complications include diseases such as:
- purulent otitis media;
- pneumonia;
- diffuse bronchitis;
- iridocyclitis;
- neuritis of the auditory nerve.
After a complete recovery, a person does not have a stable immunity to relapsing fever.
Tick-borne symptomatology
Endemic relapsing fever, the causative agent of which is an almost invisible tick, begins to develop after a bite. At this point there is a papule with a small rim. The incubation duration is on average 5-15 days, then the first attack of fever begins. The patient begins to show all signs of intoxication. Its duration is approximately 4 days. Before apyrexia occurs, body temperature begins to drop sharply. The number of fever attacks can reach ten, in some cases even more. Apyrexia takes from two days to a month, and the course of the pathology itself lasts about 3 months.
It is worth noting that patients are easier to tolerate tick-borne relapsing fever. Attacks of pathology are much shorter, while apyrexia is longer. After a person is completely cured, he has a fairly strong immunity, which further reduces the repeated risk of infection. The tick-borne form of relapsing fever does not lead to death and very rarely causes serious complications.
Diagnosis of the disease
The initial diagnosis is based on indicators of the epidemic situation, as well as on the symptoms that occur in a sick person. If infection has been detected, then the primary aspect must be determined immediately. To confirm the diagnosis, laboratory studies are conducted aimed at detecting spirochetes in the patient's blood. In some cases, a biological test can be carried out , mainly with epidemic relapsing fever, the causative agent of which is lice.
Disease treatment
For therapy, it is mandatory to use antibacterial drugs. Over the past few years, infectious disease specialists have proposed using a new generation of medicines, which include Mafarsid, Novarsenoli, Mafarsen, Miarsenol. The duration of the course of taking these medicines is 7 days.
If the treatment is correct, then the fever attacks will be quickly stopped, and the signs of intoxication will also disappear. Detoxification plays a very important role in therapy, because in the human blood there is a huge amount of spirochetes and toxins. If a complication such as biliary typhoid is present, then cardiovascular medicines are additionally used.
Signs that there is no result from the treatment will be severe bleeding, problems with the rhythm of the heart and jaundice. In such situations, a prerequisite is the hospitalization of a sick person. It must be isolated from the rest and transported only by special transport. It is worthwhile to ensure that the infected person consumes a sufficient amount of fluid, adheres to bed rest and has a comprehensive correctly selected treatment.
Pathology Prevention
Until today, there is no specific prevention and vaccination against the disease. In order to reduce the risk of infection, it is worth following the following recommendations:
- always get rid of head lice on time;
- keep track of the conditions in which you live;
- it is necessary to timely identify the infected and hospitalize them;
- if a source of relapsing fever was found, then all necessary measures must be taken to disinfect or disinsect.
The causative agent of relapsing fever is lice and ticks, which you need to get rid of as quickly as possible. Pathology is very dangerous and you must always monitor the cleanliness of your home, destroy rodents and try to stay less in places with a large crowd of people. In the presence of tick-borne or lousy relapsing fever, the causative agent of which is spirochete, it is necessary to immediately contact a medical institution.