Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e22731. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022731. Epub 2011 Aug 15.
Scrub typhus is an infectious disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. The differences in virulence of O. tsutsugamushi prototypes in humans are still unknown. We investigated whether there are any differences in the clinical features of the Boryoung and Karp genotypes.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Patients infected with O. tsutsugamushi, as Boryoung and Karp clusters, who had visited 6 different hospitals in southwestern Korea were prospectively compared for clinical features, complications, laboratory parameters, and treatment responses. Infected patients in the Boryoung cluster had significantly more generalized weakness, eschars, skin rashes, conjunctival injection, high albumin levels, and greater ESR and fibrinogen levels compared to the Karp cluster. The treatment response to current antibiotics was significantly slower in the Karp cluster as compared to the Boryoung cluster.
The frequency of occurrence of eschars and rashes may depend on the genotype of O. tsutsugamushi.
恙虫病是由恙虫东方体引起的传染病。恙虫东方体原型在人类中的毒力差异尚不清楚。我们研究了 Boryoung 和 Karp 基因型在临床特征上是否存在差异。
方法/主要发现：在韩国西南部的 6 家不同医院就诊的感染恙虫东方体的患者，按 Boryoung 和 Karp 聚类进行前瞻性比较，比较临床特征、并发症、实验室参数和治疗反应。与 Karp 聚类相比，Boryoung 聚类中感染患者的全身性乏力、焦痂、皮疹、结膜充血、白蛋白水平较高、ESR 和纤维蛋白原水平较高。与 Boryoung 聚类相比，Karp 聚类中当前抗生素的治疗反应明显较慢。
焦痂和皮疹的发生频率可能取决于恙虫东方体的基因型。
