Rat Bite Fever in an Elderly Patient With Dementia

Rat bite fever (RBF) is a zoonotic infection with nonspecific symptoms such as fever, myalgia, and arthralgia that mimic other systemic infections or noninfectious rheumatologic disorders. Obtaining a history of rat exposure is the key to diagnosis. Since a diagnosis may not be possible without some...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAnnals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases Vol. 2; no. 11
Main Authors Nakamoto, Yohei, Aita, Tetsuro, Imaoka, Koichi, Hamaguchi, Sugihiro
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American College of Physicians 01.11.2023
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Rat bite fever (RBF) is a zoonotic infection with nonspecific symptoms such as fever, myalgia, and arthralgia that mimic other systemic infections or noninfectious rheumatologic disorders. Obtaining a history of rat exposure is the key to diagnosis. Since a diagnosis may not be possible without some degree of suspicion, routine exposure history-taking is useful. We present the case of a woman with dementia and RBF whose history of a rat bite was obtained incidentally during routine history-taking from her spouse. Routine history about exposures should be taken for the diagnosis of RBF in patients with communication difficulties such as dementia.
ISSN:2767-7672
2767-7664
DOI:10.7326/aimcc.2023.0344