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Scrub typhus is key encephalitis cause in eastern U.P.: study
Why it is in news?
- Three years of data from Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College has confirmed that the majority of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) patients admitted to the hospital between August and October each year have scrub typhus.
More in news
- Scrub typhus can be treated easily if detected early.
- The first indication of scrub typhus’ role came during a 2014 study at BRD by researchers from Karnataka’s Manipal Centre for Viral Research. But there was much scepticism about this hypothesis then.
- Mites carried Orientia tsutsugumashi, the bacterium which causes scrub typhus.
Scrub typhus
- Scrub typhus, endemic in Asia-Pacific, is transmitted by the bite of chiggers (mite larvae).
- Fever (often accompanied by an eschar at the bite site), chills, severe headache, and generalized lymphadenopathy start suddenly; a rash develops and spreads.
- Treat with doxycycline, which results in rapid improvement even in severe cases.
- Scrub typhus is a mite-borne disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi (formerly Rickettsia tsutsugamushi).
- Symptoms are fever, a primary lesion, a macular rash, and lymphadenopathy.
- Treatment-
- Doxycycline-Primary treatment is doxycycline
- Chloramphenicol
- learing brush and spraying infested areas with residual insecticides eliminate or decrease mite populations.
- Insect repellents (eg, diethyltoluamide [DEET]) should be used when exposure is likely.
Source
The Hindu, msdmanuals.com