[Clinical features of 36 cases of psittacosis].

Clinical features of 36 cases of psittacosis experienced from 1980 to 1988 were analyzed. The following results were obtained. 1) Sixteen patients were male; twenty were female. The thirty-six patients ranged in age from 29 to 76 years. 2) Fifteen patients had been exposed to Parakeets prior to the onset of illness. 3) High fever (94.1%) and cough (94.4%) were prominent clinical symptoms. 4) The number of pneumonic foci per lung field by chest X-ray, showed the right inferior lobe was most frequently involved (45.2%). According to the nature of roentgenological shadows, the ground-glass-like shadow was most frequent (70.6%). 5) Leucocytosis was present in only three patients. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein were high in many patients. Half of the patients had elevated serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase. 6) All cases were treated with antibiotics and cured. The incidence of psittacosis may be increasing. Therefore, it is useful for clinicians to know the clinical features of this disease. These results may be useful in early diagnosis.