Hepatic dysfunction among scrub typhus Indian patients with acute undifferentiated febrile illness

Scrub typhus is a febrile illness caused by through trombiculid mite, bite Orientia tsutsugamushi. It is often unrecognized due to its vague symptoms. It is prevalent in the Rewa region of Madhya Pradesh, India. Therefore, it is of interest to assess hepatic dysfunction and to establish the association between liver function test parameters and disease severity in confirmed Scrub typhus cases. Hence, 50 IgM ELISA positive cases from July to September 2024 at Shyam Shah Medical College, Rewa were studied. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS 25 software, with Spearman's correlation used to relate severity, liver function test parameters and fever duration. The average fever duration was 6.22 days, with 80% of patients showing serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and 70% showing serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase abnormalities. Thus, there was a correlation between disease severity and liver dysfunction, with moderate injury in 62% and severe injury in 38% of patients.

Scrub typhus in pregnancy - A threat to maternal and fetal outcome

Background and Objectives

Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness transmitted by the bite of trombiculid mite in the larval stage. Scrub typhus is rare in pregnancy and there is paucity of data on the clinical outcome of scrub typhus during pregnancy.

Material and Methods

We present five cases of scrub typhus complicating pregnancy who were admitted in the obstetric ward at AIIMS Rishikesh, India during the antenatal period for management.

Results

The first patient presented at term pregnancy in semiconscious state while the rest were preterm between 31 and 34 weeks period of gestation. The age at presentation was 21-31 years. All five had febrile illness of >5 days' duration along with cough. Fever investigations like blood culture, peripheral smear for malarial parasite, dengue serology, widal test, and urine culture were negative. Serology for scrub typhus was positive in all. Once diagnosis was confirmed for scrub typhus, patients were given the drug of choice azithromycin 500 mg twice daily for five days. Scrub typhus complicating pregnancy led to maternal mortality in one patient. It resulted in one preterm delivery, one intrauterine fetal death, and rest three were delivered at term with good perinatal outcome.

Conclusion

Scrub typhus is common in endemic areas like Uttarakhand, India. It has a poor fetal outcome. If diagnosed early and treatment started, maternal and fetal prognosis can be favorable. As large case series are unavailable in literature, it is difficult to predict the course of disease which at times may be fulminant.

Molecular characterization of Orientia tsutsugamushi causing fatal scrub typhus in a young male affected by so-called "mystery fever" in North India

Scrub typhus is a zoonotic disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. Although the presence of eschar is considered pathognomic, diagnosis of scrub typhus is challenging due to overlapping presentation. The diagnosis is based on the serological and molecular assay. Here, we describe a case of a young male patient who was diagnosed with scrub typhus and developed complications in the course of the disease. We also performed molecular characterization of the strain which revealed a close relatedness to Karp-like Linh.DT strains were previously reported from Vietnam.

Mortality and complications of scrub typhus in the paediatric population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Scrub typhus is a leading cause of treatable febrile illness. It can produce complications and dysfunction of multiple organs in children and is associated with considerable mortality. We attempted to perform a systematic review of original articles published between 1990 to 2020 based on certain selection criteria to estimate the case fatality risk of this disease in children. We addressed the pattern of complications of this disease with its impact on mortality We calculated pooled prevalence with a random effects model (restricted maximum likelihood method) that assumed varying effect sizes between studies using R statistical software. We reported the case fatality rate and its 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in the pooled analysis. Thirty-seven articles with a total of 3329 children were identified for inclusion. The case fatality rate was 1.1% (CI 0.05 to 2, I2=58% and prediction interval 0-6%). The mortality rate showed a declining trend over the last 5 y. Hepatitis (30.68% [95% CI 18.52 to 44.38]) remains the most common complication, followed by shock (14.45% [95% CI 7.71 to 22.85]), pneumonia (14.71% [95% CI 9.76 to 20.48]), acute kidney injury (13.72% [95% CI 8.49 to 19.97]) and meningitis/meningoencephalitis (11.57% [95% CI 7.83 to 15.92]). Multi-organ dysfunction syndrome was the main contributor to mortality.

The burden of scrub typhus in India: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Scrub typhus, a vector-borne zoonotic infection caused by the bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi, is one of the most common and clinically important rickettsial infections worldwide. An estimated one million cases occur annually with a high case fatality rate. Although scrub typhus is a major public health threat in India, the burden and distribution remains unclear. We aimed to estimate the burden of scrub typhus in India.

METHODOLOGY

We performed a systematic review of published literature on scrub typhus from India to extract information on epidemiology, morbidity, and mortality. Important databases were searched using keywords and appropriate combinations. We identified observational, interventional, and population-based studies and extracted the data to evaluate the number of cases diagnosed using serology or PCR and the number of deaths due to scrub typhus. We conducted a systematic narrative synthesis to summarize included studies.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

In the last decade, there were 18,781 confirmed scrub typhus cases reported in 138 hospital-based studies and two community-based studies. IgM ELISA was used in 122 studies to confirm the cases in majority (89%). The proportion of scrub typhus among acute undifferentiated febrile illness (AUFI) studies was 25.3%, and community seroprevalence was 34.2%. Ninety studies had data published on multiple organ involvement out of which 17.4% of cases had multiple organ dysfunction syndromes, 20.4% patients required ICU admission, and 19.1% needed ventilation. The overall case-fatality rate was 6.3%, and the mortality among those with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome was as high as 38.9%.

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. Establishing good surveillance and instituting appropriate control measures are urgently needed.

Antibiotic Response to Pediatric Scrub Typhus in South India: Is Clinical Failure to Azithromycin to be Worried?

BACKGROUND

Scrub typhus is typically associated with a rapid defervescence and clinical improvement within 48 h of initiation of appropriate antibiotics. But increasing reports of resistance to anti-rickettsial medications in scrub typhus are being reported in the literature.

METHODS

This is a retrospective observational study of children up to the age of 14 years admitted between July 2017 and March 2020, to a private medical college hospital in southern part of India. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical response to antibiotic therapy with doxycycline and azithromycin in pediatric scrub typhus infection.

RESULTS

One hundred thirty-eight children with scrub typhus infection were included for analysis. The median fever control time (h) was 12 (IQR = 6-29) and 24 (IQR = 10-52) with doxycycline and azithromycin respectively (p < 0.001*). Rapid fever control within 48 h was observed in 92% with doxycycline and in 74% with azithromycin (p < 0.001*). The clinical failure rate (defined by the necessity to change the antibiotics due to: (i) worsening of symptoms and signs of scrub typhus despite 48 h of antibiotics or (ii) persistence of fever and other symptoms of scrub typhus beyond 72 h), was significantly less with doxycycline (1%) compared with azithromycin (9.6%).

CONCLUSION

There has been a significant delayed clinical response to azithromycin in the treatment of scrub typhus in India, when compared to doxycycline. Hence it is preferable to use doxycycline as the first line of antibiotic for undifferentiated fever in scrub typhus endemic areas.

LAY SUMMARY

This retrospective study aims to compare the clinical response to doxycycline or azithromycin in the treatment of scrub typhus infection in children. The median fever control time, clinical failure rate and the proportion of children with rapid defervescence of fever within 48 h were significantly superior with doxycycline as compared to azithromycin. The findings of this study and those of similar studies in India represent a spectrum of delayed clinical response of Orientia tsutsugamushi to azithromycin as compared to doxycycline in this region.