Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Pediculosis-associated Severe Anemia in the Emergency Department
In this cohort, anemia secondary to lice infestation was seen in patients with unstable housing, substance use disorders, and psychiatric disease. Most patients were hemodynamically stable, consistent with the proposed mechanism of chronic blood loss. The prevalence of this condition may be higher than previously noted among this vulnerable population. Emergency physicians should be aware of this rare but potentially serious disease process.
Authors
- Christian Koziatek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5385-3435)
- Richard T. Colling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6344-9081)
- Evan Yanni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8684-4014)
- Sanjay Mohan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8960-2507)
- Rana Biary
- Rajneesh Gulati
- William Plowe
Institutions
- New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (US)
- Long Island University (US)
- New York University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Western Journal of Emergency Medicine
- Published
- 2025-10-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.42507
- Primary Topic
- Dermatological diseases and infestations
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00