Empirical Administration of Doxycycline for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: A Case Report

Abstract

Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a tick-borne illness that can cause extreme sickness, even death, in otherwise healthy individuals. Sometimes, it is difficult to confirm the diagnosis as the rash often lags behind other symptoms of the illness and may not occur at all. Other symptoms of RMSF are nonspecific, such as fever, headache, and malaise. Besides the confirmatory serology test, antibody titers remain negative in the early phase of the illness. Here, we reported a case of a 21-year-old male who presented with fever, mild headache, body aches, joint pain, dry cough, and characteristic maculopapular rash after visiting a tick-prone area. Doxycycline was started because symptoms and laboratory values heightened our suspicion for the diagnosis of RMSF. His condition improved gradually, and his labs became normal. Our study supports the empirical use of doxycycline in suspected RMSF cases.