[Tularaemia - a forgotten disease? Own experience]

Tularaemia is an acute, animal-born disease, caused by Gram-negative aerobic bacilli - Francisella tularensis. Due to its high infectiousness and virulence it remains an epidemiological issue in some countries. The prevalence rate of tularaemia in the Scandinavian region, where most of the cases among European countries have been reported, it has remained stable since 2006, whereas in Poland a small, but stable increase has been observed. The first case of tularaemia in Poland was diagnosed in 1949 and since then more than 600 cases have been reported, mainly in the north-eastern and north-western regions of the country. In the majority of cases the infection has been transmitted by ixode bites or through direct contact with infected animals. Depending on the route of transmission, tularaemia can develop in different forms with a characteristic sudden onset of high fever and local lymphadenopathy. In Europe 95% of cases account for the ulceroglandular type, which characteristically presents with skin ulceration and inflammation of regional tissues and lymph nodes. This is the reason why it should always be taken into consideration in differential diagnosis of lymphadenitis, especially if its course is atypical or it does not respond to antibiotic therapy. The above mentioned atypical course of the disease and resistance to empirical treatment contribute to the challenge encountered by physicians in the process of diagnosis and treatment. The aim of the study is to present the most important data on tularaemia as an animal-born, infectious disease and to convince physicians to take it into consideration in the differential diagnosis of ymphadenopathy. We illustrate this article with the case of ulceroglandular type of tularemia diagnosed in a 5 year-old boy and describe the encountered diagnostic and therapeutic problems.