Plague is a very serious illness, but it can be treated with commonly available antibiotics — and the sooner someone gets appropriate care, the better their chance of full recovery.
If you live in or have recently traveled to the western United States or another area where plague is endemic, and you have symptoms that suggest plague, get health care immediately.
Recognizing it
Doctors should consider plague in sick people who live in or recently visited the western United States or other plague-endemic areas.
- The most common sign of bubonic plague is a bubo — a lymph node that swells quickly and becomes painful.
- A known flea bite, or a bubo, can prompt a doctor to consider plague.
- In septicemic and pneumonic plague, there are often no obvious signs pointing to plague.
Laboratory testing
Diagnosis depends on laboratory tests of samples from the patient, especially blood or tissue from a swollen lymph node. If plague is strongly suspected, antibiotics should start as soon as samples are taken, without waiting for results.
Close contacts
People in close contact with very sick patients with pneumonic plague may be evaluated and possibly placed under observation. Depending on the type and timing of their contact, they may also be given preventive antibiotics.
Sources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Diagnosing Plague."
许可协议： CC0 1.0（公有领域） · 改编自 www.cdc.gov
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