Characteristics of patients admitted to the emergency department due to tick bite

Abstract

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease endemic in Turkey since 2002. Çorum is one of the leading five cities in Turkey in which CCHF disease is seen most. We studied characteristics of the patients with tick bites in our emergency department (ED) and determined the fatality rate of the disease in city of Çorum for the first time. We retrospectively analysed the characteristics of the patients admitted to our ED from the medical files of 21,680 patients in a 5-year period. The number of patients with definite diagnosis and who have died was determined. Our results demonstrated that the fatality rate of CCHF in Çorum is 6.78%. Among 21,680 patients, blood samples of 970 patients were sent to an advanced centre in Ankara for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Results of 560 patients were reported to be PCR (+) and 38 of them have died.

Evaluation of cases with a preliminary diagnosis of Crimean- Congo hemorrhagic fever and comparison of characteristics in patients admitted to a secondary care hospital in Kastamonu, Turkey.

“…In non-CCHF cases, these proportions were 86.4% (19), 77.3% (17) and 27.3% (6), respectively. In CCHF cases, a history of tick bite in the last 15 days was significantly higher than non-CCHF cases (p<0.05).…”

“…Despite these limitations, all patients admitted to our hospital were included the study. There are a few studies evaluating cases with a preliminary diagnosis of CCHF [19][20][21][22] . In this regard, there is a need for more comprehensive research.…”

“…This rate ranges between 21% and 57% [19][20][21][22] . In this study, cases of CCHF admitted to a secondary care hospital in Kastamonu in 2013 were evaluated in terms of their clinical, laboratory and epidemiological characteristics.…”

Investigation of the Presence of Rickettsiae in Ticks Parasitizing Humans in Corum Region

“…Çorum ilinde kene enfestasyonu vakalarının yaygın olduğu ve her yıl il genelinde çok sayıda Kırım-Kongo Kanamalı Ateşi (KKKA) vakasının görüldüğü bildirilmektedir (21,22). Ülkemizde her yıl binlerce kene enfestasyonu vakası olmasına rağmen insanlarda KKKA dışında diğer kene kaynaklı hastalıkların varlığına dair çalışmaların azlığı oldukça dikkat çekmektedir.…”

Human otoacariasis: Demographic and clinical outcomes in patients with ear-canal ticks and a review of literature

“…Sometimes infestation is symptomless. Families can seldom see foreign bodies, which might be the cause for hospital admissions ( Erenler et al., 2014 ). A literature review reported some of the patients having dizziness, tinnitus, earache, bleeding, hearing loss, and facial paresis.…”