Scrub typhus is caused by the bite of vectors like mites and fleas living on lush green grass during the rainy season.
Nine patients died of scrub typhus while 169 others were found positive and are being treated at Sawai Man Singh Hospital, pti quoted Dr Raman Sharma, nodal officer and professor of medicine at the hospital, as saying today.
Four scrub typhus deaths were reported at Santokhba Durlabh Memorial Hospital since July this year and 118 other positive cases were treated, Dr G R Singhvi, hospital superintendent said.
Last year, Sawai Man Singh hospital had reported seven deaths due to the disease and 67 positive cases were treated, Dr Sharma said.
Due to incessant rains and a dense growth of weeds in agriculture fields this season, the disease got rampant in rural areas of Virat Nagar, Amber, Bassi, Chaksu, among others, Dr Sharma said.
'Undoubtedly, this year the disease of mite or flea is in the virulent form and needed a special attention to control it by the state government's medical and health department,' Singhvi said.
'Earlier, the disease was prevalent in hilly regions, but it migrated to planes of semi-arid regions in Rajasthan slowly,' the doctor said.
Suggesting precautions against the disease, Sharma said that people, mainly women, in rural areas should avoid going to open fields with lush greenry during rainy season to relieve themselves.
Scrub typhus or Bush typhus is a form of typhus caused by the intracellular parasite and identified in 1930 in Japan.
Scrub typhus is transmitted by some species of trombiculid mites “chiggers”, particularly Leptrombidium deliense, which are found in areas of heavy scrub vegetation. The bite of this mite leaves a characteristic black eschar that is useful to the doctor for making the diagnosis.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, cough and gastrointestinal symptoms. Morbilliform rash, eschar, splenomegaly and lymphadenopathies are typical signs. Luukopenia and abnormal liver function tests are commonly seen in the early phase of the illness. Pneumonitis, encephalitis, and myocarditis occur in the late phase of illness.
Acute scrub typhus appears to improve viral loads in patients with HIV. This interaction is challenged by an in vitro study.
In endemic areas, diagnosis is generally made on clinical grounds alone. Where there is doubt, the diagnosis may be confirmed by a laboratory test such as serology.
Without treatment, the disease is often fatal. Since the use of antibiotics, case fatalities have decreased from 4 per cent–40 percent to less than 2 percent.
The drug most commonly used is doxycycline; but chloramphenicol is an alternative. Other drugs that may be effective are clarithromycin, roxithromycin, and the fluoroquinolones, but there is no clinical evidence on which to recommend their use.
Azithromycin or chloramphenicol is useful for infection in children or pregnant women.
Severe epidemics of the disease occurred among troops in Burma and Ceylon during World War II. Several members of the U.S. Army's 5307th Composite Unit (Merrill’s Marauders) died of the disease; and before 1944, there were no effective antibiotics or vaccines available.
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Publish Date: 20 September 2013 - 01:29
New Delhi, Sept 19, IRNA -- At least 13 persons have lost their lives due to a mite-borne disease since July this year in Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan state.