Prognostic Factors in Patients with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Abstract

Background: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is a disease with a high mortality rate, caused by Rickettsia rickettsii, a bacteria transmitted to humans by infected ticks. In 2008 there was a Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) outbreak in the city of Mexicali, México, resulting in an increased mortality rate amongst the area population.
 Methods: Case-series study of patients admitted to the General Hospital of Mexicali between 2014 and 2019 with a confirmed diagnosis of RMSF. Mortality was compared dividing the population on those ≤20 and younger than ˃21 years of age.
 Results: A total of 129 patients’ records during a 5-year period whose diagnosis was RMSF confirmed with PCR were included. Mortality was compared among patients admitted who were younger than ≤20 years of age with that among patients who were older than ˃20 years of age (61 versus 68 respectively), the latter being higher with an OR 4.2 (p<0.0001).
 Conclusion: RMSF in hospitalized patients has a high mortality rate in spite of early treatment in all age groups, without showing any predominance in gender. However, patients older than 20 years of age had a higher mortality rate than those younger than 20 years, without any predominance in gender.