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Plague - Treatment

Alternative Names

Bubonic plague; Pneumonic plague; Septicemic plague

Treatment:

People with the plague need immediate treatment. If treatment is not received within 24 hours of when the first symptoms occur, death may be unavoidable.

Antibiotics such as streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, or ciprofloxacin are used to treat plague. Oxygen, intravenous fluids, and respiratory support usually are also needed.

Patients with pneumonic plague are strictly isolated from other patients. People who have had contact with anyone infected by pneumonic plague are watched carefully and are given antibiotics as a preventive measure.

Expectations (prognosis):

Without treatment, about 50 - 90% of those with bubonic plague die. Almost all people with pneumonic plague die if not treated. Treatment reduces the death rate to 50%.

Calling your health care provider:

Call your health care provider if you develop plague symptoms after exposure to fleas or rodents, especially if you live in or have visited an area where plague occurs.

Flea

Flea bite - close-up

Antibodies

Reviewed last on: 5/30/2009
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Gage KL. Plague and other Yersinia infections. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier. 2007: chap 333.

Kool JL. Risk of person-to-person transmission of pneumonic plague. Clin Infect Dis. 2005 Apr 15;40(8):1166-72.

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