TULAREMIA: RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW OF 11 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN AMASYA
1Amasya Üniversitesi Sabuncuoğlu Şerefeddin Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Enfeksiyon Hastalıkları, Amasya, Türkiye2Amasya Üniversitesi Sabuncuoğlu Şerefeddin Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz, Amasya, Türkiye Purpose: Tularemia is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by Francisella tularensis and with different clinical symptoms. It is stated that the number of tularemia cases has increased in recent years with the effect of seasonal changes. In this study, we aimed to examine the epidemiological, clinical, laboratory and treatment characteristics of patients diagnosed in our city, in the light of the literature.
Materials and Methods: The data of patients who were admitted to our hospital between January 2012 and July 2023 and were diagnosed with tularemia clinically and serologically were examined retrospectively.
Results: Data from a total of 22 patients were accessed. 14 of them were women and 8 were men. The average age was 38,82±12,98 (18-66). The oropharyngeal form was most common in patients. The average time from the onset of the disease to the initiation of effective treatment was 13,82±4,43 (8-24) days in all patients, 18,50±3,50 (14-24) days in patients with lymph node suppuration, and 12,06±3,37 (8-20) days in patients without lymph node suppuration. A statistically significant correlation was observed between the time from the onset of the disease to the initiation of effective treatment and the occurrence of lymph node suppuration (p=0.001). Surgical drainage was performed in 6 (27,3%) patients whose lymph node suppuration could not be controlled despite medical treatment.
Conclusion: Tularemia should definitely be considered in tonsillopharyngitis cases that do not respond to beta-lactam antibiotics, co-trimoxazole and macrolide group antibiotics, and in cases presenting with cervical lymphadenomegaly and living in rural areas.
Keywords : Tularemia, epidemiology, treatment, lymph node suppuration