Japanese spotted fever with post-infectious encephalitis

Takafumi Wada; Hitoshi Mori; Kouji Kida; Katsuro Shindo

doi:10.1016/j.idcr.2022.e01658

Japanese spotted fever with post-infectious encephalitis

IDCases. 2022 Dec 5:31:e01658. doi: 10.1016/j.idcr.2022.e01658. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Takafumi Wada¹, Hitoshi Mori¹, Kouji Kida², Katsuro Shindo¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Kurashiki Central Hospital, Japan, 1-1-1 Miwa, Kurashiki, Okayama, 710-8602 Japan.
² Virology Section, Department of Health Science, Okayama Prefectural Institute for Environmental Science and Public Health, Japan, 739-1 Uchio, Okayama Minami-ku, Okayama, 701-0298 Japan.

Abstract

Japanese spotted fever (JSF) is a rickettsial disease caused by Rickettsia japonica. To the best of our knowledge, there have only been five reported cases of JSF involving the central nervous system. A 74-year-old man was admitted after 1 week of fever and maculopapular rash. JSF was definitively diagnosed by PCR; however, the patient showed mental disturbance and abnormal behavior. After intravenous immunoglobulin, his mental state and behavior improved. The findings of cerebrospinal fluid analysis, electroencephalography, and ^{99 m}TcHM-PAO single photon computed emission tomography suggested post-infectious encephalitis. JSF causes post-infectious encephalitis and early treatment is recommended.

Keywords: Encephalitis; Japanese spotted fever.

Publication types

Case Reports