Socio-demographic and Clinico-Epidemiological Study of Scrub Typhus in Two Tertiary Care Hospitals of Kolkata.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Scrub typhus is the commonest of the rickettsial diseases in India and is difficult to diagnose. Untreated cases have fatality rates of 30-45%. Eschar is present in 7-97% cases. Pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are frequent complications. Serum immunoglobulin M capture ELISA is the most sensitive test. Doxycycline is the drug of choice. Our objectives were to study the socio-demographic and clinic-epidemiological profiles of scrub typhus cases in two tertiary care hospitals in Kolkata, India. This was the first study of scrub typhus in Southern West Bengal and its neighboring areas. .

METHODS

Study was conducted over 16 months and all fever cases of Tropical Medicine / Medicine outpatients' clinics were evaluated.

RESULTS

Fourteen cases were diagnosed. 78.6% were from rural areas and 35.7% were farmers. Headache and fever were the commonest presenting complaints while eschar was found in only 21.4%. Serum IgM scrub typhus antibody was positive in all cases .

CONCLUSION

Scrub typhus should be a differential diagnosis in acute febrile illness cases, as early diagnosis and therapy prevents complications.