Recent Threat of Scrub Typhus in India: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Scrub typhus is an endemic illness transmitted by vectors and induced by bacteria. It is the most common and severe rickettsial disease. There are many more cases every year with a significant case fatality rate. Despite being a serious public health threat in India, it is uncertain how widespread and burdensome scrub typhus is. The scarcity of statistical information and pertinent health records on scrub typhus in the outbreak region demonstrates that there is still a significant knowledge gap about this neglected illness. Clinical manifestations of this illness include kidney failure, disability, and severe kidney failure. Undifferentiated symptoms, late diagnosis, and treatment failure are all responsible for deaths. Knowing about this disease is important from a public health point of view due to difficulties in specific diagnosis and a shortage of laboratory services in so many places. India is known to have scrub typhus cases, and doctors should be aware of this potentially dangerous but easily curable illness. The disease is highly difficult to identify clinically from other acute afebrile infections due to common symptoms and a paucity of the lesion in the Indian population. The mainstay of diagnosis is antibody-based serological testing. Within the first week of symptoms, scrub typhus can be diagnosed using molecular and serological tests. Our objective is to identify how severe scrub typhus is in India and to investigate the current epidemiology, etiology, complications, management, and treatment of the disease in both long-established endemic regions and new infection foci.

Keywords: eschar; immunity; india; scrub typhus; threat; zoonotic diseases.

Figure 1. Clinical symptoms and signs among hospitalized patients with scrub typhus in Meghalaya, India.

Source: [3]