There are 2 types of Mediterranean fevers:
“Familial Mediterranean fever” and
just “Mediterranean fever”.
1. Familial Mediterranean fever is an
inflammatory autoimmune disease,
genetically conditioned, that affects the
peritoneum, pleura, joints and skin. It
manifests with a fever, abdominal pain,
chest pain, joint pain and skin lesions.
Symptoms come and go like attacks. Between
the attacks there are no symptoms.
2. “Mediterranean fever” is also
called “Brucellosis”. It is a severe,
chronic infective disease caused by
bacteria called Brucella and it is
transmitted from animals to people (sheep,
cows, horses, pigs, dogs…). People can
be directly infected by contact with an
animal’s placenta, amnion liquid or
urine. This happens to people who work
with animals (cowboys, veterinary doctors,
butchers…). The disease can be also
transmitted indirectly by consuming
uncultivated milk, cheese, meat and other
eating products from those same animals.
The symptoms of Mediterranean fever, or
Brucellosis, begin after 2 weeks of an
incubation period. The disease starts with
a recurrent high temperature followed by
night sweating. Typically, a person will
also experience muscle and joint pains in
the neck and sacrum. The liver, spleen and
many lymph nodes can become swollen. If
not treated, the acute disease turns into
a sub-chronic condition, causing
inflammation of the joints (especially of
the vertebral and sacro-iliac joints),
tendons, heart’s muscle and covering of
the brain. The chronic form of
Mediterranean fever is complicated with
inflammation of the testicles, tubes,
nerves and joint immobility.
Diagnosis of Mediterranean fever is
confirmed by serologically detecting
antibodies in the blood.
The therapy for Mediterranean fever
includes antibiotics (rifampicin,
tetracyclines and co-trimoxasol) for the
acute form and antibiotics,
corticosteroids and vaccine-therapy for
the chronic form.
Brucellosis is a long lasting disease
(chronic) if not treated on time. The
acute form of the disease has a better
prognosis if treated with antibiotics. A
relapse of the disease is possible in
15-20% of all cases.
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