Symptoms of Plague

Symptoms of Plague

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Plague includes the 34 symptoms listed below:

• Swollen lymph glands
• Tender lymph glands
• Lymph gland pain
• Bubonic plague symptoms:
  • Blister at flea bite site
  • High fever
  • Chills
  • Headache
  • Swollen glands
  • Swollen groin lymph nodes
  • Swollen armpit lymph nodes
  • Swollen neck lymph nodes
  • Lymph node ulcers
  • Extreme exhaustion
  • Prostration
  • Delirium
• Septicemic plague symptoms:
  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Prostration
  • Abdominal pain
  • Shock
  • Bleeding into skin
  • Bleeding organs
• Pneumonic plague symptoms:
  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Cough
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Rapid shock
  • Death
• Chills
• Fever
• Enlarged lymph nodes
• more information...»

Research symptoms & diagnosis of Plague:

• Overview -- Plague
• Diagnostic Tests for Plague
• Complications -- Plague
• Doctors & Specialists
• Misdiagnosis and Alternative Diagnoses
• Hidden Causes of Plague
• Other Causes -- causes of these or similar symptoms

Plague: Complications

Review medical complications possibly associated with Plague:

• Death
• more complications...»

Diagnostic Testing

Diagnostic testing of medical conditions related to Plague:

• Blood tests for Yersinia pestis bacteria
• Sputum tests for Yersinia pestis bacteria
• Lymph tests for Yersinia pestis bacteria
• more tests...»

Research More About Plague

Do I have Plague?

• Plague: Introduction
• Plague: Diagnostic Testing to confirm diagnosis
• Alternative diagnoses and misdiagnosis for Plague
• How serious is it?
• Treatments for Plague
• More about Plague

Wrongly Diagnosed with Plague?

The list of other diseases or medical conditions that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses for Plague includes:

• Tularemia
• Lymphadenopathy
• Genital lymphadenopathy
• Typhoid fever
• Influenza
• more diagnoses...»

See the full list of 12 alternative diagnoses for Plague

More about symptoms of Plague:

More information about symptoms of Plague and related conditions:

• Other diseases with similar symptoms and common misdiagnoses
• Tests to determine if these are the symptoms of Plague
• Symptoms that may be caused by complications of Plague
• Underlying causes of Plague
• Risk factors for Plague

Other Possible Causes of these Symptoms

Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions, or drug side effect causes of that symptom.

• Abdominal pain - see all causes of Abdominal pain
• Bleeding into skin - see all causes of Bleeding under skin
• Bleeding organs - see all causes of Bleeding symptoms
• Blister at flea bite site - see all causes of Blisters
• Chills - see all causes of Chills
• Chills - see all causes of Chills
• Chills - see all causes of Chills
• Chills - see all causes of Chills
• Cough - see all causes of Cough
• Death - see all causes of Death
• Delirium - see all causes of Delirium
• Difficulty breathing - see all causes of Breathing difficulties
• Enlarged lymph nodes - see all causes of Enlarged lymph nodes
• Extreme exhaustion - see all causes of Prostration
• Fever - see all causes of Fever
• Fever - see all causes of Fever
• Fever - see all causes of Fever
• Headache - see all causes of Headache
• High fever - see all causes of High fever
• Lymph gland pain - see all causes of Lymph symptoms
• Lymph node ulcers - see all causes of Lymph symptoms
• Prostration - see all causes of Prostration
• Prostration - see all causes of Prostration
• Rapid shock - see all causes of Shock
• Shock - see all causes of Shock
• Swollen armpit lymph nodes - see all causes of Swelling symptoms
• Swollen glands - see all causes of Swollen glands
• Swollen groin lymph nodes - see all causes of Groin swelling
• Swollen lymph glands - see all causes of Swollen lymph glands
• Swollen neck lymph nodes - see all causes of Swollen neck lymph nodes
• Tender lymph glands - see all causes of Lymph symptoms

Medical Books Online about Plague

Medical Books Excerpts Excerpts of published medical book chapters related to Plague are available from published medical books for more detailed information about Plague.

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

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Symptoms of Plague: Online Medical Books

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about the symptoms of Plague.

Plague: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

The incubation period, early symptoms, severity at onset, and clinical course vary in the three forms of plague. In bubonic plague, the incubation period is 2 to 8 days. The milder form begins with malaise, fever, and pain or tenderness in regional lymph nodes, possibly associated with swelling. Lymph node damage (usually axillary or inguinal) eventually produces painful, inflamed, and possibly suppurative buboes. The classic sign of plague is an excruciatingly painful bubo. Hemorrhagic areas may become necrotic; in the skin, such areas appear dark — hence the name “black death.”

This infection can progress extremely rapidly. A seemingly mildly ill person with only fever and adenitis may become moribund within hours. Plague may also begin dramatically, with a sudden high fever of 103° to 106° F (39.4° to 41.1° C), chills, myalgia, headache, prostration, restlessness, disorientation, delirium, toxemia, and staggering gait. Occasionally, it causes abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and constipation followed by diarrhea (frequently bloody), skin mottling, petechiae, and circulatory collapse.

In primary pneumonic plague, the incubation period is 2 to 3 days followed by a typically acute onset, with high fever, chills, severe headache, tachycardia, tachypnea, dyspnea, and a productive cough (first mucoid sputum, later frothy pink or red).

Secondary pneumonic plague, the pulmonary extension of the bubonic form, complicates about 5% of cases of untreated plague. A cough producing bloody sputum signals this complication. Both the primary and secondary forms of pneumonic plague rapidly cause severe prostration, respiratory distress and, usually, death.

Septicemic plague usually develops without overt lymph node enlargement. In this form, the patient shows toxicity, hyperpyrexia, seizures, prostration, shock, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Septicemic plague causes widespread nonspecific tissue damage — such as peritoneal or pleural effusions, pericarditis, and meningitis. It's rapidly fatal unless promptly and correctly treated.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005

Plague: Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)

The three forms of plague vary in their incubation period, early symptoms, severity at onset, and clinical course.

Bubonic plague

With bubonic plague, the incubation period is 2 to 6 days. The milder form begins with malaise, fever, and pain or tenderness in regional lymph nodes, possibly associated with swelling. Lymph node damage (usually axillary or inguinal) eventually produces painful, inflamed, and possibly suppurative buboes. The classic sign of plague is an excruciatingly painful bubo. Hemorrhagic areas may become necrotic; in the skin, such areas appear dark — hence the name “black death.”

Bubonic plague can progress rapidly. A seemingly mildly ill person with fever and adenitis may become moribund within hours.

Bubonic plague may also begin dramatically, with a sudden high fever of 103° to 106° F (39.4° to 41.1° C), chills, myalgia, headache, prostration, restlessness, disorientation, delirium, toxemia, and staggering gait. Occasionally, it causes abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and constipation followed by diarrhea (frequently bloody), skin mottling, petechiae, and circula-tory collapse.

Septicemic plague

Septicemic plague usually develops without overt lymph node enlargement. With this form, the patient shows toxicity, hyperpyrexia, seizures, prostration, shock, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Septicemic plague causes widespread nonspecific tissue damage — such as peritoneal or pleural effusions, pericarditis, and meningitis — and is fatal if the patient doesn’t receive prompt treatment.

Pneumonic plague

Primary pneumonic plague is an acutely fulminant, highly contagious form of plague that causes acute prostration, respiratory distress, and death — typically within 2 to 3 days after onset.

The incubation period for primary pneumonic plague is 2 to 3 days. It’s followed by a typically acute onset, including high fever, chills, severe headache, tachycardia, tachypnea, dyspnea, and a productive cough (first mucoid sputum; later frothy pink or red).

Secondary pneumonic plague, the pulmonary extension of the bubonic form, complicates about 5% of cases of untreated plague. A cough that produces bloody sputum signals this complication. The primary and secondary forms of pneumonic plague rapidly cause severe prostration, respiratory distress and, usually, death.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003

Plague: Plague - signs & symptoms
(The 5-Minute Pediatric Consult)

• Bubonic plague:
  • Initial symptom: Pain in the groin or axillae prior to lymph node swelling
  • Lymphadenitis (usually inguinal > axillary > cervical)
  • Systemic manifestations
• Septicemic plague:
  • Tachycardia
  • Hypotension
  • Other organ involvement
• Bubonic or septicemic plague may progress to pneumonic plague.
• Pneumonic plague:
  • Pneumonia
  • Systemic manifestations
  • Rapidly progressive
  • Often fatal

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: The 5-Minute Pediatric Consult, 2008

Article Excerpts About Symptoms of Plague:

Plague Diagnosis: DVBID (Excerpt)

The typical sign of the most common form of human plague is a swollen and very tender lymph gland, accompanied by pain. The swollen gland is called a "bubo." Bubonic plague should be suspected when a person develops a swollen gland, fever, chills, headache, and extreme exhaustion, and has a history of possible exposure to infected rodents, rabbits, or fleas. A person usually becomes ill with bubonic plague 2 to 6 days after being infected.

When bubonic plague is left untreated, plague bacteria invade the bloodstream. As the plague bacteria multiply in the bloodstream, they spread rapidly throughout the body and cause a severe and often fatal condition. Infection of the lungs with the plague bacterium causes the pneumonic form of plague, a severe respiratory illness. The infected person may experience high fever, chills, cough, and breathing difficulty and may expel bloody sputum. If plague patients are not given specific antibiotic therapy, the disease can progress rapidly to death. About 14% (1 in 7) of all plague cases in the United States are fatal. (Source: excerpt from Plague Diagnosis: DVBID)

Plague Epidemiology: DVBID_1 (Excerpt)

CLINICAL FEATURES

• Bubonic plague: enlarged, tender lymph nodes, fever, chills and prostration
• Septicemic plague: fever, chills, prostration, abdominal pain, shock and bleeding into skin and other organs
• Pneumonic plague: fever, chills, cough and difficulty breathing; rapid shock and death if not treated early

Plague Epidemiology: DVBID_1 (Excerpt)

fever, chills, prostration, abdominal pain, shock and bleeding into skin and other organs (Source: excerpt from Plague Epidemiology: DVBID_1)

Facts About Plague: CDC-OC (Excerpt)

There are three forms of plague. Symptoms of bubonic plague include enlarged, tender lymph nodes, fever, chills and prostration; septicemic plague symptoms include fever, chills, prostration, abdominal pain, shock, and bleeding into skin and other organs; and pneumonic plague symptoms include fever, chills, cough, difficulty breathing, and rapid shock and death if not treated early. (Source: excerpt from Facts About Plague: CDC-OC)

Plague as a Cause of Symptoms or Medical Conditions

When considering symptoms of Plague, it is also important to consider Plague as a possible cause of other medical conditions. The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that Plague may cause:

• Brain failure
• Breathlessness
• Gram negative bacilli / rods
• Haemoptysis
• Inguinal lymphadenopathy
• Lymphadenopathy
• Meningoencephalitis
• Pneumonia
• Pyrexia
• Zoonosis

Plague: Onset and Incubation

Incubation period for Plague: A person usually becomes ill with bubonic plague 2 to 6 days after being infected. (Source: excerpt from Plague Diagnosis: DVBID)

Medical articles and books on symptoms:

These general reference articles may be of interest in relation to medical signs and symptoms of disease in general:

• Diagnostic Testing for a Diagnosis of Plague
• Research Alternative Diagnoses for Plague
• How serious is Plague?
• More about Plague
• Online Diagnosis
• Self Diagnosis Pitfalls
• Pitfalls of Online Diagnosis
• Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
• Lesser known silent killer diseases
• Books on signs and symptoms

Full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis

About signs and symptoms of Plague:

The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of Plague. This signs and symptoms information for Plague has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of Plague signs or Plague symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Plague may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they are indeed Plague symptoms.