Has anyone been diagnosed with RMSF? I have Lyme symptoms and am being treated
for that, but now Rocky Mtn. Spotted Fever test came back positive.  Any ideas?

I tested for exposure to RMSF when my Lyme tests were done.  No active
infection.  My doc said that any previous abx must have killed the RMSF.   From
what I read, the death rate from RMSF is about 5%.
G. Copeland Cole

From "Tick-borne infection: What starts as a tiny tick bite may have a
serious outcome
Vol95/No 5; pp 131-139/April 1994/Postgraduate Medicine
                Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
.
DISEASE COURSE WITH DELAYED OR NO TREATMENT.  Early recognition of the
disease is critical.  The later the diagnosis is made, the greater the
difficulty in controlling the infection.  In fulminant Rocky Mountain
spotted fever, death can occur in 3 to 5 days.  Mortality rates are high in
patients who have glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.  Overall,
the case-fatality in patients with RMSF was 5.2% in 1990.  The mortality
rate was 6.2% when antibiotic therapy was delayed more than 3 days, but 1.3%
if treatment was started within 3 days.  Because dark skin masks the rash,
black patients have a higher mortality rate than white patients.

Untreated RMSF lasts 2 to 3 weeks and carries a 25% mortality rate.
Respiratroy, renal, hepatic, and cardiac failure accounts for most deaths.
Other fatal complications (eg, disseminated intravascular coagulation,
gastrointestinal hemorrhage with perforation occur infrequently).

Permanent sequelae include skin necrosis and scarring of gangrenous digits,
earlobes, tip of the nose, or {*filter*}.  Permanent neurologic deficits (eg,
neuropathy, major paresis, cognitive dysfunction) develop in some patients.