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Psittacosis - Treatment

Alternative Names

Ornithosis; Chlamydia psittaci

Treatment:

The infection is treated with antibiotics. Doxycycline is the first line treatment. Other antibiotics that may be prescribed include:

  • Azithromycin
  • Erythromycin
  • Moxiflacin
  • Rifampin
  • Tetracycline

Note: Tetracycline and doxycycline by mouth is usually not prescribed for children until after all their permanent teeth have started to grow in or to pregnant women. The medicine can permanently discolor teeth that are still forming.

Expectations (prognosis):

Full recovery is expected.

Complications:

  • Brain involvement
  • Decreased lung function as a result of the pneumonia
  • Heart valve infection
  • Inflammation of the liver (hepatitis)

Calling your health care provider:

Antibiotics are needed to treat this infection. If you develop symptoms of psittacosis, call your health care provider.

  • Reviewed last on: 9/15/2010
  • David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Torres A. Pyogenic Bacterial Pneumonia and Lung Abscess. In: Mason RJ, Broaddus CV, Martin TR, et al. Murray & Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:chap 32.

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