A Case Report of Ocular Manifestation of Rickettsial Infection- A Rare Vision Threatening Gram Negative Bacteria Causing Chorioretinitis

Abstract

Rickettsioses are emergent and resurgent arthropod vector borne diseases due to obligate intracellular small gram-negative bacteria. Most of them are transmitted to humans by the bite of infected arthropods, such as ticks. Ocular involvement is common, including conjunctivitis, keratitis, anterior uveitis, panuveitis, retinitis, retinal vascular changes, and optic nerve involvement. Though rickettsiosis is common in India, there is paucity of rickettsial retinitis (RR) reports from India. Moreover, rickettsial sub-types and their association with retinitis have not been studied.Ocular rickettsial infection may be a part of systemic rickettsial infection which is mainly autoimmune in nature so treatment is mostly based on steroids and antibiotics. We report the case of a 36 year old male native of North India.