Analysis of tularemia cases in St. Petersburg from 2015 to 2023

Abstract

Objective. To study the epidemiological aspects and clinical and laboratory course of tularemia in St. Petersburg.

 Material and methods. 47 patients diagnosed with tularemia hospitalized in St. Petersburg State Budgetary Healthcare Institution “KIB named after. S.P. Botkin” in 2015-2023, divided into 2 groups: 1 — with comorbid pathology (n=25), 2 — and without it (n=22). Statistical analysis was performed using the nonparametric Mann—Whitney method (p≤0.05).

 Results. Before the disease, patients (n=38) visited: Leningrad region – 34.2%, Novgorod region – 13.2%, Karelia – 13.2%. The cutaneous bubonic form of tularemia was recorded in 72.3%, bubonic in 19.2%, anginal-bubonic in 6.4% and intestinal in 2.1% of cases. In comorbid patients, hospitalization periods were 1.2 times longer than in group 2 (p≤0.05). In 55.4%, the diagnosis was not established before hospitalization and in 23.4% penicillin drugs were prescribed.

Conclusion. Most often, before the disease, patients visited the Leningrad region. Late diagnosis is associated with a lack of vigilance on the part of doctors and the variety of forms and modes of transmission of the disease. The ineffectiveness of prehospital therapy associated with the resistance of Francisella tularensis to penicillins and the comorbid background of patients contributed to an increase in the duration of hospitalization.