Southern tick-associated rash illness
Southern tick-associated rash illness | |
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Other names | Masters' disease |
carriers of southern tick-associated rash illness. | |
Specialty | Infectious disease |
Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) is an
Borrelia lonestari
. However, there is insufficient evidence to declare this Borrelia strain as a causative agent.
Symptoms
Diagnosis is based on a circular "bull's-eye" rash at the site of infection called
erythema chronicum migrans, which is very similar to that seen in Lyme disease. However, the symptoms of STARI are mild, and resemble influenza, with fatigue, muscle pains, and headache.[1]
Fever is sometimes seen, but is not characteristic.
Causes
This illness is a
vector of disease in 1984,[2] and the illnesses associated with the tick called "Lyme-like disease",[3] but it was not recognized to be distinct from Lyme disease until the late 1990s.[4][1]
Several studies have failed to detect
Treatment
Infections are treated with antibiotics, particularly doxycycline, and the acute symptoms appear to respond to these drugs.[8][11]
Prognosis
No serious long-term effects are known for this disease,[11] but preliminary evidence suggests, if such symptoms do occur, they are less severe than those associated with Lyme disease.[7]
See also
References
External links
- Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI) Home Page Centers for Disease Control
- STARI Fact Sheet Florida Department of Health
- Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI) SCWDS Briefs, January 2003, Vol.18, No.4