Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1980-11-20
pubmed:abstractText
In considering the diagnosis of a patient admitted to the Johannesburg Hospital, suffering from an illness characterized by high fever and complicated by a hemorrhagic state from which he died, a list of possible causes of his illness was drawn up. This list included the arthropodborne viral infections prevalent in southern Africa, namely, chikungunya fever, Sindbis fever, West Nile fever, yellow fever, and Rift Valley fever; viral infections associated with rodents, such as Lassa fever; the viral infection associated with monkeys, Marburg virus disease; the rickettsial infections; tick-bite fever (the variety of spotted fever of tick typhus occurring in southern Africa) and Q fever; the bacterial infections, especially the coccal infections, plague septicemia, and meningococcal, staphylococcal, and streptococcal septicemia; and the blood protozoal infections malaria and trypanosomiasis. In addition, rubella, Gasser's syndrome, Henoch-Schönlein purpura, and viperine snakebite were briefly described in this review. All of these conditions may be complicated by the development of a hemorrhagic state. The circulation of large numbers of infecting organisms, by they viruses, rickettsiae, bacteria, or protozoa, may initiate the coagulation cascade, the formation of fibrin and its deposition in the finer blood vessels, and the aggregation and entanglement of platelets resulting in marked thrombocytopenia and bleeding. This bleeding tendency is greatly aggravated when the infection specifically involves the parenchymal cells of the liver; such a condition results in defective formation of coagulation factors such as prothrombin. The proper care of patients in whom a hemorrhagic state has developed requires urgent and accurate diagnosis followed by immediate and appropriate treatment that will combat the infection and alleviate the hemorrhagic state and liver disorder. If the hemorrhagic state is due to one of the dangerous infectious fevers, adequate protection of the medical, nursing, and laboratory staff concerned is also vital.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0162-0886
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
1
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
571-91
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:articleTitle
Hemorrhagic fevers, with special reference to recent outbreaks in southern Africa.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review