Scrub typhus, a potentially fatal rickettsial infection, is common in India. It usually presents with acute febrile illness along with multi-organ involvement caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. As there was an outbreak of scrub typhus in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan and there is a paucity of data from this region, we studied this entity to describe the diverse epidemiological, clinico-radiological, laboratory parameters and outcome profile of patients with scrub typhus in a tertiary care hospital. Methods. In this descriptive study, we included all patients with an acute febrile illness diagnosed as scrub typhus by positive IgM antibodies against O. tsutsugamushi, over a period of 4 months (July to October 2014). All relevant data were recorded and analysed. Results. A total of 66 (24 males/42 females) patients were enrolled. Fever was the most common presenting symptom (100%), and in 67% its duration was for 7–14 days. Other symptoms were breathlessness (66.7%), haemoptysis (63.6%), oliguria (51.5%) and altered mental status (39.4%). The pathognomonic features such as eschar (12%) and lymphadenopathy (18%) were not so common. The commonest radiological observation was consistent with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Complications noted were respiratory (69.7%), renal (51.5%) and hepatic dysfunction (48.5%). The overall mortality rate was 21.2%.
Original Source [2]
Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/feature-article/scrub-typhus-prospective-observational-study-during-outbreak-rajasthan-india
[2] http://www.nmji.in/article.asp?issn=0970-258X;year=2017;volume=30;issue=2;spage=69;epage=72;aulast=Takhar;type=0
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/rajendra-prasad-takhar
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/moti-lal-bunkar
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/savita-arya-et-al
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/journal/national-medical-journal-india
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/infectious-diseases
[8] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/child-health
[9] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/rajasthan
[10] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/india