5 RED HOT diseases!

.....

okay okay! We've changed our narrowed down diseases through relating the patient's conditions and symptoms to the characteristics of the respective diseases. Subsequently, we are going to narrow down the diseases to 2! Sneak a peep at our 5 rash-eey RED and feverish-ly HOT diseases.

i Endemic Typhus

There are 2 causative agents for Endemic Typhus: Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia felis. It is similar to epidemic typhus however it is milder in comparison.

1. The old man’s flat is infested with fleas and he has a habit of feeding stray cats and dogs thus transmission of Rickettsia typhi or Rickettsia felis from dog and cat fleas is highly possible.

2. Symptoms include high fever, headache and rashes.

ii. Leptospirosis

Leptospira interrogans is the causative agent of Leptospirosis.

1. The disease is widely found in Singapore

2. It is transmitted from animals to human through water, food and excreta of infected animals and since the old man has bad personal hygiene and a habit of feeding stray dogs and cats, he could have easily contracted the disease

3. Symptoms include fever, rash and vomiting.

iii. Lyme Disease

Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of Lyme disease.

1. It is transmitted by bites from ticks, found on animals such as dogs, which eventually causes rashes and since the old man has a habit of feeding stray dogs, this is very possible.

2. Symptoms include fever, a characteristic rash and general weakness.

iv. Typhoid Fever

Salmonella typhi is the causative agent of Typhoid Fever. Typhoid Fever and Endemic Tyhpus is not related.

1. S. typhi is part of the normal flora in our body and thus could easily have been transmitted to the old man.

2. The old man’s mattress are soiled human excreta and urine thus he could easily get infected since infection occurs through accidental ingestion of feces and urine that contains S. typhi through dirty hands or contaminated food.

3. Symptoms include fever, rash (rose-coloured spots) and weakness.

4. S. typhi is excreted in the urine and stool

v. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Rickettsia rickettsii is the causative agent of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

1. The disease is transmitted through ticks commonly found on dogs and cats and since the old man has a habit of feeding stray dogs and cats they may have transferred infected fleas to him.

2. Symptoms include high fever, headache, muscle pain, chills, malaise and rashes.

Tests Done

Preliminary tests done were general tests such as a full blood count (FBC), blood and stool cultures and biopsy of the rash.

Some of the confirmatory tests that are required to finalise our prognosis includes making specific cultures and also running various antibody-antigen reaction tests that varies in methodology.