Myositis in a child with murine typhus

Abstract

A 12-year-old boy presented with fever, lower extremity pain and weakness. Examination revealed paraparesis, thigh and calf tenderness. Labs showed high creatinine phosphokinase and Rickettsia typhi titers. This case illustrates endemic typhus should be considered in the differential diagnosis of myositis especially in areas with high prevalence of the disease. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of myositis and paraparesis associated with a case of murine typhus. © S. Seshadri and J. Fergie, 2014.