Is scrub typhus common in India?

Is scrub typhus common in India?

Conclusion/significance: Scrub typhus, a common acute febrile illness in India causing severe morbidity, accounts for a large number of deaths. The burden of the disease has been underappreciated. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment can significantly reduce complications and mortality.

What is the main source to the infection of scrub typhus?

Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi. Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body aches, and sometimes rash.

What is scrub typhus in India?

Scrub typhus is an infection that is caused by a rickettsial bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi and transmitted to humans through chigger mites. Scrub typhus has re-emerged as one of the most common life-threatening rickettsial infections accounting for a million cases annually.

Where is scrub typhus endemic?

Scrub typhus is endemic to a part of the world known as the tsutsugamushi triangle (after O. tsutsugamushi). This extends from northern Japan and far-eastern Russia in the north, to the territories around the Solomon Sea into northern Australia in the south, and to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west.

How long does scrub typhus last?

Scrub typhus lasts for 14 to 21 days without treatment. Severe infections may be complicated by interstitial pneumonia, pulmonary edema, congestive heart failure, circulatory collapse, and a wide array of signs and symptoms of central nervous system dysfunction, including delirium, confusion, and seizures.

How can scrub typhus be prevented?

No vaccine is available to prevent scrub typhus. Here are some preventive tips recommended by Dr Chafle: *Reduce your risk of getting scrub typhus by avoiding contact with infected chiggers. *When travelling to areas where scrub typhus is common, avoid areas with lots of vegetation and bush where chiggers may be found.

How is scrub typhus diagnosed?

Diagnosis of Scrub Typhus To confirm the diagnosis, doctors may do an immunofluorescence assay, which uses a sample from the rash (biopsy). Or they may use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to enable them to detect the bacteria more rapidly. Doctors may do blood tests that detect antibodies to the bacteria.

What is the incubation period of scrub typhus?

After an incubation period of 6-21 days, onset is characterized by fever, headache, myalgia, cough, and gastrointestinal symptoms. A primary papular lesion which later crusts to form a flat black eschar, may be present. If untreated, serious complications may occur involving various organs.

How do you detect scrub typhus?

What causes typhus?

Epidemic typhus, also called louse-borne typhus, is an uncommon disease caused by a bacteria called Rickettsia prowazekii. Epidemic typhus is spread to people through contact with infected body lice.

Can scrub typhus reoccur?

This complication seems to occur as a result of slow development of the immunity. “Late relapse”, i.e., recurrence of scrub typhus several months or years after the initial O. tsutsugamushi infection, is surely possible.