Five Cases with Psittacosis

Abstract

From December 1982 to May 1985, 5 patients (2 men and 3 women, aged from 28 to 69) with psittacosis were admitted to out hospital, in most of which the chief complaints were fever and cough. The chest x-ray revealed homogenous infiltrative shadow in the unilateral lung field in 4 patients and in the bilateral lung fields in one patient. At first we treated all cases suspicious of mycoplasma pneumonia or bacterial pneumonia. However, because of the elevated titer of antibody to chlamydia and of the history of contact with birds, we diagnosed psittacosis in all. All patients were treated with tetracycline, lincomycin or macrolides.