title: [Clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of 5 cases of primary pneumonic plague in Tibet in 2010].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the clinical manifestations, the feature of chest X-ray, the clinical outcome, and the clinical treatments of severe pneumonic plague.
  
  
  METHODS
  We observed the clinical course of primary pneumonic plague in 5 patients, who infected Yersinia pestis in Tibet during September 2010, including manifestations of chest X-ray, the antibiotic therapy, respiratory support and the prognosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of the 5 patients presented with high fever, bloody sputum and difficulty breathing. The chest X-ray showed signs consistent with necrotizing inflammation with multiple lobar involvement. Mass-like lesions might coalesce, and the "white lung" sign might appear. Three out of the 5 patients presented with hypoxemia. The results of reverse indirect hemagglutination assay (RIHA) in these patients were positive on the second day of the illness onset. All of these patients recovered after antibiotic therapy and other treatments. However, the absorption of lung lesions was very slow.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients infected with primary pneumonic plague presented with rapid onset high fever and hemoptysis, and the lung injury was very severe. The positive result of RIHA was useful for early diagnosis of plague. Streptomycin should be the first choice for Yersinia pestis infection, but its optimal dose needed further study. Fluoroquinolones can be used as combination with Streptomycin. Nutritional support and symptomatic treatment, as well as non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation when needed, were important for the management of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, the Second People's Hospital of Tibet, Lasa 850002, China.
authors.forename: Wangjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dawa
authors.forename: Wen-jun
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Xi-ying
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Shu-qiong
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ciren
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dawa
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Zhuoga
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ciwang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Su-ying
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Rong-meng
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010930:Plague / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D018609:Tibet; D055815:Young Adult