Armstrong, Paige

Paige Armstrong, MD, MHS, LCDR
LCDR, US Public Health Service
Medical Epidemiologist
Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Atlanta, GA

Rickettsial diseases: Epidemiologic trends, clinical diagnosis and management

Dr. Paige Armstrong is a Medical Epidemiologist in the Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She leads the branch’s response to ongoing outbreaks of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in multiple states in Mexico. LCDR Armstrong also serves as clinical advisor for research, coordinates outreach to states, and oversees healthcare provider education initiatives for rickettsial diseases, such as RMSF, Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis, and Q fever. She is board certified in Emergency Medicine and completed her residency and chief year at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. Paige holds an MD from the University of Connecticut, and received a Master of Health Sciences and undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Paige has led outbreak investigations in the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Panama. She also assisted in the Emergency Operations Center at the CDC on the Zika response, and worked alongside the Ministries of Health in El Salvador and Nicaragua to evaluate their national surveillance systems. Paige received the Alpha Omega Alpha Post-Graduate Research Award for her work identifying barriers to care in non-English speaking patients.

Conference Lecture Summary Dr. Armstrong’s talk on Spotted Fever Rickettsioses (SFR) will discuss the range of diseases that fall within this group, as well as national trends. Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is the most severe and well know of the SFR, but there are other emerging species, such as R. parkeri and 364D. The talk will address clinical aspects, diagnostics, treatment, and prevention methods.