title: Characteristics of patients admitted to the emergency department due to tick bite.
abstract: Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease endemic in Turkey since 2002. Çorum is one of the leading five cities in Turkey in which CCHF disease is seen most. We studied characteristics of the patients with tick bites in our emergency department (ED) and determined the fatality rate of the disease in city of Çorum for the first time. We retrospectively analysed the characteristics of the patients admitted to our ED from the medical files of 21,680 patients in a 5-year period. The number of patients with definite diagnosis and who have died was determined. Our results demonstrated that the fatality rate of CCHF in Çorum is 6.78%. Among 21,680 patients, blood samples of 970 patients were sent to an advanced centre in Ankara for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Results of 560 patients were reported to be PCR (+) and 38 of them have died.
authors.affiliation: Specialist Doctor in Emergency Medicine, Hitit University Çorum Education and Research Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Çorum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali Kemal
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Erenler
authors.forename: Fuat
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kulaksiz
authors.forename: Hüseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ülger
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erdem
authors.forename: Cem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koçak
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Söylemez
authors.forename: Özkan
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Öztürk
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baydin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D064927:Tick Bites / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever; emergency department; fatality rate