Tickpedia
Removal · field guidance

RMSF diagnosis: clinical decision plus paired IFA

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is treated empirically on suspicion; paired acute and convalescent IFA confirms after the fact.

Steps

schema.org/HowTo
  1. 01
    Start doxycycline empirically when RMSF is suspected — do not wait for testing.
  2. 02
    Draw an acute serum within the first week of illness.
  3. 03
    Draw a convalescent serum 2-4 weeks later.
  4. 04
    A 4-fold rise in IgG IFA titer between acute and convalescent confirms infection.
  5. 05
    PCR on whole blood or skin biopsy can support early diagnosis but has lower sensitivity than serology.

Wild facts

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