Lee Yeong-Sheng, Wang Pei-Hua, Tseng Shu-Jen, Ko Ching-Fen, Teng Hwa-Jen
The Sixth Branch Office, Center for Disease Control, Taipei, Taiwan.
Jpn J Infect Dis. 2006 Aug;59(4):235-8.
The epidemiology of scrub typhus in eastern Taiwan was studied by analyzing the data from the CDC Web reporting system. A total of 1,396 cases with 403 confirmed cases were reported in the period of 2000 to 2004. The cases were commonly found in all counties with the highest number in Yuli Township, Hualien County (53 cases) and Taitung City, Taitung County (40 cases). Monthly changes in the number of cases showed epidemic periods in the spring with a peak in May, and again in the fall, with an October-November peak. The occurrence of disease varied with age, gender, and occupation. Our results showed that the infection rates in the elderly (50-69 years old), males (62.8%), and farmers (25.6%) were higher than those in other age groups, females, and other occupations. Five major clinical symptoms, fever, headache, eschar, rash, and lymphadenopathy, were observed in 90.1, 61.9, 23.1, 21.6, and 10.7% of the cases, respectively. Almost 90% (89.3%) of the cases showed 1-3 clinical symptoms and some showed 4-5 symptoms (10%). Only one patient with no symptoms (0.8%) was found. This paper reports the status of scrub typhus in eastern Taiwan, and suggests that a health education program could train individuals to self-recognize the disease symptoms.
通过分析疾病控制中心网络报告系统的数据，对台湾东部恙虫病的流行病学进行了研究。2000年至2004年期间共报告了1396例病例，其中403例确诊。所有县均普遍发现有病例，花莲县玉里乡病例数最多（53例），台东县台东市次之（40例）。病例数的月度变化显示，春季有流行期，5月达到高峰，秋季再次出现流行期，10月至11月达到高峰。疾病的发生因年龄、性别和职业而异。我们的结果表明，老年人（50 - 69岁）、男性（62.8%）和农民（25.6%）的感染率高于其他年龄组、女性和其他职业。分别有90.1%、61.9%、23.1%、21.6%和10.7%的病例出现了发热、头痛、焦痂、皮疹和淋巴结病这五种主要临床症状。几乎90%（89.3%）的病例表现出1 - 3种临床症状，一些病例表现出4 - 5种症状（10%）。仅发现1例无症状患者（0.8%）。本文报告了台湾东部恙虫病的状况，并建议开展健康教育项目，培训个人自我识别疾病症状。
