ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
V.M. Somasunder1, K. Akila2, S. Sijimol2, S. Senthamarai2, S. Sivasankari2, C. Anitha2 and V.J. Subha2
1Department of Microbiology, Panimalar Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Varadharajapuram, Poonamallee, Chennai – 600056, Tamil Nadu, India.
2Department of Microbiology, Meenakshi Medical College Hospital and Research Institute Enathur, Kanchipuram – 631552, Tamil Nadu, India.
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2021;15(3):1442-1448 | Article Number: 6658
https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.15.3.37 | © The Author(s). 2021
Received: 18/09/2020 | Accepted: 07/07/2021 | Published: 04/08/2021
Abstract

Scrub typhus is an arthropod-borne zoonotic bacterial infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. It presents clinically as a non-specific febrile illness that needs a high index of clinical suspicion for diagnosis. The mortality rate can be as high as 30% if not treated appropriately. Laboratory diagnosis is therefore important for confirming the cause of illness prior to initiating appropriate therapy. Hence we aimed to detect scrub typhus in serum samples of undifferentiated febrile illness patients and to correlate with the socioeconomic status of these individuals. We also aimed to study the seasonal variation associated with the disease. Serum samples from 143 febrile patients who were negative for other febrile illnesses were subjected to scrub typhus IgM ELISA. Scrub typhus IgM antibodies were found in 14 (9.8%) individuals of which 41-60 years being the most affected age group. Scrub typhus positivity was high during the months of October to December (P value 0.0056) with the individuals from the rural areas being the most affected (P value 0.027). To conclude, this study emphasises the importance of serological tests to detect scrub typhus and to include it as a differential diagnosis among undifferentiated febrile illnesses.

Keywords

IgM ELISA, Scrub typhus, Seasonal variation

Article Metrics

Article View: 599

Share This Article

© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.