Yersinia pestis infection overview: Difference between revisions
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==Natural History, Complications and Prognosis== | ==Natural History, Complications and Prognosis== | ||
If [[plague]] patients are not given specific [[antibiotic]] therapy, the disease can progress rapidly to [[death]]. About 14% (1 in 7) of all [[plague]] cases in the United States are fatal. | If [[plague]] patients are not given specific [[antibiotic]] therapy, the disease can progress rapidly to [[death]]. About 14% (1 in 7) of all [[plague]] cases in the United States are fatal. | ||
==Diagnosis== | |||
===History and Symptoms== | |||
The typical sign of the most common form of human plague is a swollen and very tender lymph gland, accompanied by pain. The swollen gland is called a "bubo." Bubonic plague should be suspected when a person develops a swollen gland, fever, chills, headache, and extreme exhaustion, and has a history of possible exposure to infected rodents, rabbits, or fleas. A person usually becomes ill with bubonic plague 2 to 6 days after being infected. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 16:49, 18 December 2012
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Yersinia pestis infection Microchapters |
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Differentiating Yersinia Pestis Infection from other Diseases |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Case Studies |
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Yersinia pestis infection overview On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Yersinia pestis infection overview |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Yersinia pestis infection overview |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Assistant Editors-In-Chief: Esther Lee, M.A.
Overview
Yersinia pestis infection is an infectious disease of animals and humans caused by a bacterium named Yersinia pestis. Human Yersinia pestis infection takes three main forms: pneumonic, septicemic, and the notorious bubonic plagues.All three forms are widely believed to have been responsible for a number of high-mortality epidemics throughout human history, including the Plague of Justinian in 542 and the Black Death that accounted for the death of at least one-third of the European population between 1347 and 1353. It has now been shown conclusively that these plagues originated in rodent populations in China.
Historical Perspective
It is suggested that Yersinia pestis infection was a contributing factor in some of (though possibly not all) the European plagues. The earliest account describing a possible plague epidemic is found in I Samuel 5:6 of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). In this account, the Philistines of Ashdod were stricken with a plague for the crime of stealing the Ark of the Covenant from the Children of Israel. These events have been dated to approximately the second half of the 11th century BC.
Pathophysiology
A person can get plague from flea bites or another individual when the other person has plague pneumonia and coughs droplets containing the plague bacteria into air that is breathed by a non-infected person.
Risk Factors
Outbreaks in people occur in areas where housing and sanitation conditions are poor. These outbreaks can occur in rural communities or in cities. They are usually associated with infected rats and rat fleas that live in the home.
Natural History, Complications and Prognosis
If plague patients are not given specific antibiotic therapy, the disease can progress rapidly to death. About 14% (1 in 7) of all plague cases in the United States are fatal.
Diagnosis
=History and Symptoms
The typical sign of the most common form of human plague is a swollen and very tender lymph gland, accompanied by pain. The swollen gland is called a "bubo." Bubonic plague should be suspected when a person develops a swollen gland, fever, chills, headache, and extreme exhaustion, and has a history of possible exposure to infected rodents, rabbits, or fleas. A person usually becomes ill with bubonic plague 2 to 6 days after being infected.