“…5,6 The disease causes fever, headache, abdominal pain, and rash in a majority of patients, and may also lead to complications such as encephalitis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and coagulopathies. 1,2 Although most antibiotics are characteristically ineffective against R. rickettsii , tetracycylines offer excellent clinical results. However, a delay in administration of doxycycline, the recommended drug of choice, has been shown to increase the likelihood of fatal outcome.…”