A study by Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore & London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) highlights the high risk of scrub typhus infections in rural Tamil Nadu.
Key Findings of the Study
Study Area - Rural areas of Tamil Nadu.
Sample Size - 32,000 individuals.
Incidence Rate - Nearly 10% of the population was infected annually over a 2-year study period.
Severity of Cases - 8%-15% of infected individuals developed fever requiring hospitalization.
Scrub typhus accounted for 30% of fever-related hospitalizations, making it the second most common cause after COVID-19.
Five deaths recorded due to severe complications.
Scrub Typhus
It is a severe infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi(a rickettsial bacterium).
Vector - Infected larval mites (chigger).
Mode of Transmission - Humans get infected through the bite of infected chiggers (mite larvae).
The bacteria enter the bloodstream, causing systemic infection.
Symptoms - Fever (develops about 10 days after infection), Headache and body aches, Rash, Eschar (black sore at the site of the chigger bite) – a crucial diagnostic sign.