Rat-bite fever

Disease	Injury	Nutrition	Poison

Special Topic	Surgery	Symptoms	Test

Rat-bite fever

Alternative Names:

Streptobacillary fever; Streptobacillosis; Haverhill fever; Epidemic arthritic erythema; Spirillary fever; Sodoku

Symptoms:

Fever
Chills
Headache
Muscle aches
Rash -- may be red/purple plaques in sodoku
Arthritis (singe or multiple large joints) -- less common in sodoku
Open sore at the site of initial bite in sodoku

Signs and tests:

Diagnosis is made by detection of the organism in skin, blood, joint fluid, or lymph nodes. Blood antibody tests may also be used.

Review Date: 12/24/2002
Reviewed By: Camille Kotton, M.D., Infectious Diseases Division, Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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