A patient with scrub typhus may present with a number of clinical findings.
Organism: Orientia tsutsugamushi
Vector: chigger (Leptotrombidium species mite)
Clinical findings:
(1) eschar at the site of the chigger bite
(2) intermittent fever
(3) headache
(4) conjunctival injection
(5) lymphadenopathy
(6) acute hearing loss or hearing impairment
(7) hepatosplenomegaly
(8) pneumonitis
(9) myocarditis
(10) vasculitis
(11) encephalitis
(12) acute renal failure
The diagnosis is usually confirmed by serology, demonstrating antibody by an indirect fluorescent antibody test.
The patient usually shows a rapid clinical improvement once treated with appropriate antibiotics (chloramphenicol, tetracyclines).
Differential diagnosis:
(1) leptospirosis
(2) malaria
(3) typhoid fever
(4) atypical pneumonia
(5) miliary tuberculosis
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Specialty: Infectious Diseases
ICD-10: ,
