Studies conducted on 32,000 people in rural areas of Tamil Nadu suggests that scrub typhus is a major but less recognized cause of hospitalization for fever. The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) found a high phenomenon of scrub typhus during the two -year study period, with about 10 percent of the population infected every year. Most of these infections were symptomatic, but 8 percent to 15 percent of those who were infected had fever, which often required hospitalization and intensive care due to severe infection.
MD in Community Medicine at CMC Vellore, lead author Carroll Devmani said, “After Kovid, the most important cause of fever in our study was Scrub Typhus, who was responsible for about 30 percent of cases of fever hospitalized hospitals.”
“Despite the cases being very common and treatable, when patients come with fever, scrub typhus is often ignored as a possible cause. Diagnostic tests are available in major hospitals, but not in the community,” he said.
Symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body pain and rash. These usually begin about 10 days after infection. The tissue around the chigar bite also usually turn black, which can help doctors in diagnosis.
If not treated, a serious disease caused by scrub typhus infection can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDs), shock, meningitis and kidney failure, which can be fatal. Cases can be treated using antibiotics doxycycline and azithromycin, but there is currently no vaccine to prevent infection.
Comments are closed.