Department of Microbiology, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
Department of Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
Indian J Med Res. 2022 Sep;156(3):435-441. doi: 10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_707_19.
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Scrub typhus caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi presents as acute undifferentiated fever and can be confused with other infectious causes of fever. We studied scrub typhus as part of a study on hospital-based surveillance of zoonotic and vector-borne zoonotic diseases at a tertiary care hospital located in the Wardha district, Maharashtra, India. We report here descriptive epidemiology and climatic factors affecting scrub typhus.
Patients of any age and sex with fever of ≥5 days were enrolled for this study. Data on sociodemographic variables were collected by personal interviews. Blood samples were tested by IgM ELISA to diagnose scrub typhus. Confirmation of scrub typhus was done by indirect immunofluorescence assay for IgM (IgM IFA). The climatic determinants were determined using time-series Poisson regression analysis.
It was found that 15.9 per cent of the study participants were positive for scrub typhus by IgM ELISA and IgM IFA, both. Positivity was maximum (23.0%) in 41-60 yr of age and more females were affected than males (16.6 vs. 15.5%). Farmworkers were affected more (23.6%) than non-farm workers (12.9%). The disease positivity was found to be high in monsoon and post-monsoon seasons (22.9 and 19.4%) than in summer and winter.
INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: There were three hot spots of scrub typhus in urban areas of Wardha district. Rainfall and relative humidity in the previous month were the significant determinants of the disease.
恙虫病由恙虫东方体引起，表现为急性非特异性发热，可能与其他发热性传染病混淆。我们在印度马哈拉施特拉邦沃德哈区的一家三级保健医院进行了基于医院的动物源性和媒介传播动物源性疾病监测研究，在此研究中我们发现了恙虫病。本研究报告了恙虫病的描述性流行病学和影响恙虫病的气候因素。
本研究纳入了任何年龄和性别的发热≥5 天的患者。通过个人访谈收集社会人口统计学变量的数据。采用 IgM ELISA 检测血液样本以诊断恙虫病。通过间接免疫荧光法（IgM IFA）对恙虫病进行确诊。使用时间序列泊松回归分析确定气候决定因素。
研究发现，15.9%的参与者通过 IgM ELISA 和 IgM IFA 两种方法均对恙虫病呈阳性。41-60 岁年龄组的阳性率最高（23.0%），女性多于男性（16.6%比 15.5%）。农民比非农民更容易受到影响（23.6%比 12.9%）。恙虫病在雨季和雨季后的阳性率较高（22.9%和 19.4%），而在夏季和冬季则较低。
沃德哈区城区有三个恙虫病热点。前一个月的降雨量和相对湿度是该病的重要决定因素。
