Clinical case of tick-borne rickettsiosis with a fatal outcome in the Novosibirsk Region

Tick-borne rickettsiosis (TBR) is one of the widespread tick-borne infections in Russia. The article presents a clinical follow-up of a fatal case of TBR, caused by Rickettsia sibirica, in an elderly female patient in the Novosibirsk Region. The disease was characterized by high fever, intoxication, serous meningitis, the appearance of a maculopapular rash on the 7th day of illness, and bilateral pneumonia. The condition was complicated by the development of cerebral and pulmonary edema, which led to a fatal outcome on the 10th day of illness. The diagnosis of TBR was confirmed by detecting R. sibirica DNA in the patient's blood and autopsy material. Existing diagnostic methods for TBR have limitations, including difficulty in verification when typical symptoms are absent and low availability of serological tests in practical laboratories. Therefore, the use of modern molecular genetic research methods helps confirm the diagnosis of TBR in the shortest possible time and initiate appropriate antibiotic therapy promptly. The high accuracy of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method allows for reliable confirmation of the diagnosis, even when the clinical presentation lacks characteristic manifestations. KEYWORDS: tick-borne rickettsiosis, Rickettsia sibirica, rickettsiosis complications, tick-borne infections, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) FOR CITATION: Vyazhevich A.N., Krasnova E.I., Bondarenko E.I., Pozdnyakova L.L., Provorova V.V., Shpynov S.N., Khokhlova N.I., Shishkova O.M. Clinical case of tick-borne rickettsiosis with a fatal outcome in the Novosibirsk Region. Russian Medical Inquiry. 2025;9(12):920–926 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.32364/2587-6821-2025-9-12-13