Ornithosis

Ornithosis – General Information

Ornithosis also known as psittacosis, parrot disease and parrot fever and in medicine as pulmonology or Chlamydial Pneumonia is a zoonotic (meaning that the disease can be contracted from the animals) infectious disease caused by an bacterium called Chlamydia psittaci which people can get from the parrots (such as macaws, cockatiels and budgerigars), pigeons, sparrows, ducks, hens, sea gulls. Ornithosis is frequent from May to July and from October to December and the highly affected birds are the younger ones. Chlamydia is usually excreted in the droppings, lachrymal fluid, and beak and throat mucus. The diagnoses of the Ornithosis includes microbiological cultures from the respiratory secretions of the patients and serologically cultures with a fourfold in antibody titers against the Chlamydia psittaci in the blood samples. If the patient is diagnosed with this disease then Leventhal – Colle – Lillie bodies may be observed in the macrophages in the BAL fluid. The culture of the Chlamydia psittaci is very dangerous and should be done only in laboratories. People who have bird – pets or those that work in a place where they have direct contact with birds are the most exposed to getting this disease. This is a type of pneumonia that can be very severe which gets worse in the elderly people and can last for several weeks. Usually this disease can be prevented by informing the people who own birds or who work with or near by them about the risks this involves. These people should avoid the direct contact with the droppings of the birds and if they notice that a bird is sick should take it to a veterinary.

Ornithosis – Symptoms

It is well known that any medical disorder (including Ornithosis) can trigger a variety of symptoms. Therefore, some of this medical condition's most uncommon symptoms have not been listed here. This is why we strongly recommend you to contact your personal health care provider whenever you develop any unusual, bothersome or unpleasant symptoms. Your personal physician will be able to tell you if you are suffering from Ornithosis or from any other medical disorder
After a person contracts the bacterium that causes Ornithosis, which has an incubation period of 4-15 days, he can develop the following symptoms:

• Chills
• Low grade fever
• Headaches
• Mylagia
• Sore throat
• Cough that can be: dry or hacking, nonproductive or productive
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Photophobia
• Decreased pulse rate
• Abdominal distension
• Increased respiratory rate
• Purulent lung infection
• Faint macular rash
• Weakness
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• Muscular aches
• Joint pain
• Diarrhea
• Shivering
• Pus in sputum
• Breathlessness
• Malaise
• Rash
• Lethargy
• Chest pain
• Runny nose
• Arthralgias – meaning musculoskeletal disorders
• Conjunctivitis
• Epistaxis
• Enlarged spleen also known as splenomegaly
• The blood test may reveal: leucopenia and thrombocytopenia
• Elevated liver enzymes
• Pneumonia
• The severe infections can lead to: stupor, delirium, cyanosis (that usually appears only in extensive pulmonary infiltration), endocarditis, hepatitis, myocarditis, arthritis, keratoconjunctivitis and sometimes neurological complications may also appear, such as encephalitis.

Ornithosis – Treatment

Usually in the Ornithosis the antibiotics are recommended such as tetracycline and chloramphenicol that are mostly used in these cases. Many of the patients infected with Ornithosis respond to oral treatment:

• 500 mg of chloramphenicol pamitate every six hours
• 500 mg of tetracycline hydrochloride four times a day
• 100 mg of Doxycycline twice a day

For the patients that have severe forms of Ornithosis, their doctors administrate Doxycycline intravenously (2, 2 mg/kg body weight once a day) or tetracycline hydrochloride.
The remission of the symptoms is obvious in the first 49-72 hours, but relapses can occur and if it happens then the treatment should be continued for 10 to 14 days. For the persons in which tetracycline is contraindicated (such as pregnant women and children under 9 years old), erythromycin is the best choice. In people that are allergic to tetracycline, this is may be replaced with: penicillin G procaine or chloramphenicol.
Here is a list of other drugs that can be used at the doctor’s recommendation in the treatment of Ornithosis:

• Andoxa – is a drug that is used in the treating of some bacterial infections alone or in combination with other medicines.
• Brodspec – is a drug that fights the bacteria in the human body.
• chloramphenicol – is used in the infections caused by the bacteria.
• Chloromycetin
• Codeine
• Doryx – it is used to treat and to prevent the infections.
• Doryx Delayed Release Capsules – it is used to treat the infections and it is not recommended in nursing mothers and pregnant women.
• Doxy 100 – is a tetracycline based drug.
• Doxy Lemmon - it is not recommended in pregnant women.
• Doxy-caps
• Doxy D
• Doxycycline Dental, Hyclate, injection, monohydrate.
• Emtet 500– it is not recommended in pregnant women.
• Levofloxacine
• Monodox – is a broad spectrum antibiotic
• Oracea – it is used in order to reduce the development of the bacteria that causes the infection.
• Panmycin – is an antibiotic which fights the bacteria in the body.
• Periostat
• Sumycin
• Tetracap - is an antibiotic which fights the bacteria in the body.
• Tetracycline - is an antibiotic which fights the bacteria in the body and it is also used in the treatment of chlamydia, gonorrhea and acnea.
• Tetracycline Topical
• Vibra-tab
• Vibramycin

Patients must treat the fever episodes, which are very common, especially in those with history of fever seizures, with:

• Antipyretics which inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandin
• Acetaminophen for the young children
• Cooling blankets or lukewarm baths can also be helpful
• In critically ill patients empiric treatment and hospitalization is needed.

The treatment of Ornithosis varies depending on the type of Chlamydia that causes the infection. A child who has Chlamydia trachomatis infection gets well rapidly with erythromycin. Chlamydia psittaci infection is usually treated with tetracycline, a lot of bed rest, oxygen supplementation, and codeine. Chlamydia pneumoniae infection responds best to erythromycin.