Psittacosis differential diagnosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aditya Govindavarjhulla, M.B.B.S. [2]Omodamola Aje B.Sc, M.D. [3]

Overview

Psittacosis must be differentiated from other diseases that cause atypical pneumonia, febrile illness without localizing signs and extrapulmonary manifestations such as gastroenteritis, hepatitis, meningitis, or encephalitis. The three main diseases to differentiate psittacosis from are Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Legionella infection as they tend to have similar clinical manifestations which can only be differentiated by taking appropriate histories and laboratory investigations. There are other conditions to watch out for which may also present similar to psittacosis.

Differentiating Psittacosis from other Disease

The following diseases must be differentiated from psittacosis based on the presentation of cough, fever, myalgia, and shortness of breath.

• C. pneumoniae pneumonia
• M. pneumoniae pneumonia
• L. pneumophila infection

• Influenza
• Endocarditis
• Septicemia
• Vasculitis
• Coxiella burnetii infection
• Leptospirosis
• Brucellosis

Differentiating psittacosis from other diseases

Clinical feature	Cough	Sputum	Dyspnea	Sore throat	Headache	Confusion	Diarrhea	Chest radiograph changes	Hyponatremia	Leukopenia	Abnormal Liver function tests	Treatment
Psittacosis	++	-	+	-	+++	+	Minimal	No changes seen	-	+	-	Doxycycline
C.pneumoniae pneumonia	+	+	+	+++	++	+	-	Minimal changes observed	-	-	-	Doxycycline, Azithromycin
M. pneumoniae pneumonia	++	++	++	-	-	-	-	Bronchial wall thickening Centrilobular nodules Ground-glass attenuation Consolidation	-	-	+	Doxycycline
L. Pneumophila infection	+	+++	+++	-	+	++	+	Often Multifocal	++	+	++	Doxycycline
Influenza	++	++	++	++	++	+/-	+/-	Bi-basal air-space opacities Perihilar reticular and alveolar infiltrates	-	-	-	zanamivir, oseltamivir,
Endocarditis	++	++	+	-	-	-	-	Hazy opacities at lung bases bilaterally	-	+/-	+/-	Vancomycin
Coxiella burnetii infection	++	-	+	+/-	-	+/-	Minimal	Segmental or lobar opacification Occasional pleural effusions	-	+/-	=/-	Doxycycline
Leptospirosis	++	+	++	+	+	++	-	Multiple ill-defined nodules in both lungs.	+++			Doxycycline, azithromycin, amoxicillin
Brucellosis	++	-	+	-	++	+	-	Soft miliary mottling Parenchymal nodules Consolidation Chronic diffuse changes Hilar or paratracheal lymphadenopathy Pneumothorax.	-/+	+/-	+/-	Doxycycline, rifampin

Key;

+, occurs in some cases

++, occurs in many cases,

+++, occurs frequently