Tularemia Blood Test – Indications, Procedures, Results

How do you know if you have tularemia?

• Possible symptoms include skin ulcers, swollen and painful lymph glands, inflamed eyes, sore throat, mouth sores, diarrhea, or pneumonia. If the bacteria are inhaled, symptoms can include abrupt onset of fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, joint pain, dry cough, and progressive weakness.

What common approach is used to confirm a tularemia infection?

• The diagnosis of tularemia is usually based on serology results. Tests vary from antibody detection (using latex agglutination or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] testing) to the examination of a range of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay products.

How is Francisella tularensis diagnosed?

• Isolation of F. tularensis from a clinical specimen; appropriate specimens include swabs or scrapings of ulcers, lymph node aspirates or biopsies, pharyngeal swabs, or respiratory specimens (e.g. pleural fluid), depending on the form of illness. Blood cultures may often be negative.

What is a tularemia antibody?

• If antibodies are detected, there has been exposure to F tularensis. If antibodies are found, it means you either have a current or past infection with F tularensis. In some cases, a single high level of antibodies that are specific to F tularensis means you have an infection.

Does tularemia go away on its own?

• Fever may be high and may go away for a short time only to return. Untreated, the fever usually lasts about four weeks. Other symptoms depend on the type of tularemia.

What is the treatment for tularemia?

• Antibiotics used to treat tularemia include streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, and ciprofloxacin. Treatment usually lasts 10 to 21 days depending on the stage of illness and the medication used. Although symptoms may last for several weeks, most patients completely recover.

What is the most common clinical presentation of tularemia?

• Ulceroglandular This is the most common form of tularemia and usually occurs following a tick or deer fly bite or after the handling of an infected animal. A skin ulcer appears at the site where the bacteria entered the body. The ulcer is accompanied by swelling of regional lymph glands, usually in the armpit or groin.

What is the mortality rate of tularemia?

• The overall mortality rate for severe Type A strains has been 5–15 percent, but in pulmonic or septicemic cases of tularemia without antibiotic treatment, the mortality rate has been as high as 30–60 percent. With treatment, the most recent mortality rates in the U.S. have been 2 percent.

What is the treatment for Bartonella?

• All immunocompromised patients with a Bartonella infection should receive antibiotic therapy (erythromycin 500 mg p.o. four times daily or doxycycline 100 mg p.o. twice daily); patients who have relapsed after the recommended treatment should then receive secondary prophylactic antibiotic treatment with erythromycin.

Is there a vaccine for tularemia?

• No tularemia vaccine is currently available to protect the U.S. population. A previous vaccine developed in the former Soviet Union is not approved for use in the U.S. due to questions about its safety and stability.

What happens if you get tularemia?

• Tularemia has the potential to affect various organ systems of the body including the central nervous system, heart, and liver resulting in inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord (meningitis), inflammation of the lining of the heart (endocarditis), and inflammation of the liver (hepatitis).

Is tularemia contagious from person to person?

• Tularemia is not known to be spread from person to person. People who have tularemia do not need to be isolated. People who have been exposed to tularemia bacteria should be treated as soon as possible. The disease can be fatal if it is not treated with the right antibiotics.

How can tularemia be prevented?

How many types of tularemia are there?

• Six forms of tularemia are seen in humans: typhoidal, ulceroglandular, glandular, oculoglandular, oropharyngeal and pneumonic. The form of the disease depends on the inoculation site.

What is another name for tularemia?

Who is at the greatest risk of contracting tularemia?

• Who is at the highest risk of getting tularemia? Veterinarians, hunters, trappers, landscapers, farmers, and people who spend time outdoors where ticks and biting flies are common are at higher risk for acquiring tularemia.

Is tularemia the same as for Lyme disease?

• One of many tick-borne diseases
• Though Lyme disease gets a lot of attention, it is only one of many serious tick-borne diseases – including tularemia.

Is tularemia spread by ticks?

• Ticks that transmit tularemia to humans include the dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), the wood tick (D. Anderson), and the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). Other transmission routes include deer fly bite, inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact with infected animals.

How do animals get tularemia?

• The bacteria can live for long periods of time (weeks to months) in soil, vegetation and water and serve as a source of infection for other animals or humans. Animals get tularemia by ingesting (oral) contaminated food (raw meat from infected animals) or drinking contaminated water.