An Interesting Case of Scrub Typhus; Not an Uncommon Entity in Tropical Countries

4^th World Congress on Complementary & Alternative Medicine

September 27-28, 2022 | Webinar

Gopika

Government Mohankumaramangalam Medical College,Salem,Tamil Nadu,India

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Altern Integr Med

Abstract :

Tropical fevers with organ failure is one of the leading cause of ICU admissions in India 1 . Commonest tropical fevers that leads to organ failure and ICU admission are Malaria, Dengue and Enteric fever 2. Scrub typhus and Leptospiral disease are less common and are oYen missed. Scrub typhus is caused by intracellular parasite Orienta tsutsugamushi belonging to ricke\sia group, arthropod Tromiculid mite is a vector for this disease. It is endemic in Asia-pacific region being less common in India. Scrub typhus is manifested with fever, headache, myalgia and flu like symptoms, approximately 5-14 days of being bi\en by infected trombiculid mite. An eschar at the site of the bite is a classical feature of the disease as shown in the figure. It begins as a papule, which ulcerates and then form a dark scar, like a cigare\e burn. It is mainly seen in the anterior part of the body 3 . Severe complicaAons include liver failure, acute kidney injury, acute lung injury. OYen paAents can have severe neurological manifestaAons such as encephaliAs and meningiAs. The mortality rate is between 6% - 70% 4 . DiagnosAc test for scrub typhus includes indirect immunofluorescence test, indirect immune-peroxidase assay, ELISA test, immunochromatographic test. Immunofluorescence test and ELISA test are quick, high specificity (84%-100%) with sensiAvity of (70%-100%). Cell culture and anAgen detecAon has high specificity (100%), with low sensiAvity (50%) it is Ame consuming and expensive. Treatment consists of Doxycycline for 10 days. Azithromycin is an alternate drug.

Biography :

Gopika Ambalathara Gopinath completed her MBBS from India and currently she works in the UK. She aspires to become an Emergency Medicine Practitioner in the NHS. experience in the field of pharmaceutical chemistry and analytical laboratory techniques.