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    Infect Chemother. 2009 Nov-Dec;41(6):315-322. Korean.
    Published online Dec 31, 2009.
    https://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2009.41.6.315
    Copyright © 2009 The Korean Society of Infectious Diseases; The Korean Society for Chemotherapy
    Review

    Clinical Features and Diagnosis of Scrub Typhus

    Dong-Min Kim, M.D.
      • Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University School of Medicine, Gwang-ju, Korea.
    • Corresponding author: Dong-Min Kim, M.D. Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University Collegeof Medicine, 588 Seoseok-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju, 501-717, Korea. Tel: +82-62-220-3108, Fax: +82-62-234-9653, Email: drongkim@chosun.ac.kr
    Received October 15, 2009.

    This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

    Abstract

    Scrub typhus is the most common rickettsial disease in Korea. Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness with characteristic findings such as high fever, rash, headache, and eschar. It is caused by intracellular gram-negative bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi. Infection occurs when larvae of thrombiculid mite (chiggers) infected with O. tsutsugamushi bite people and suck human tissue fluid. Although scrub typhus runs a mild clinical course and shows a good response to antibiotic therapy, serious complications such as interstitial pneumonia, acute renal failure, meningoencephalitis, gastrointestinal bleeding, and multiple organ failure may develop when diagnosis is delayed and can even lead to death. It is often difficult to diagnose scrub typhus only by clinical features and therefore, more rapid and accurate diagnostic evaluation may be required. This review will focus on clinical feature, and diagnosis of scrub typhus.

    Keywords
    Scrub typhus; Orientia tsutsugamushi; Clinical feature; Diagnosis

    Figures

    Figure 1
    Sites that manifest an eschar in scrub typhus patients. Abbreviations:a, male front; b, male back; c, female front; d, female back. Date source; Kim DM, Won KJ, Park CY, Yu KD, Kim HS, Yang TY, Lee JH, Kim HK, Song HJ, Lee SH, and Shin H. Distribution of eschars on the body of scrub typhus patients : A prospective study. Am J Trop Med Hyg 76(5):806-9, 2007.

    Figure 2
    Changing patterns of median antibody titers with time in scrub typhus patients. Date source; Kim DM,Lee YM, Back JH, Yang TY, Lee JH, Song HJ, Shim SK, Hwang KJ, Park MY. A serosurvey of Orientia tsutsugamushi from patients with scrub typhus. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2010 in press.

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    MeSH Terms
    Acute Kidney Injury
    Bites and Stings
    Exanthema
    Fever
    Gram-Negative Bacteria
    Headache
    Hemorrhage
    Humans
    Korea
    Larva
    Lung Diseases, Interstitial
    Meningoencephalitis
    Mites
    Multiple Organ Failure
    Orientia tsutsugamushi
    Scrub Typhus
    Metrics
    Share
    Figures
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