Australian Defence Force Malaria and Infectious Disease Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Intern Med J. 2023 Aug;53(8):1501-1505. doi: 10.1111/imj.16199.
Undifferentiated febrile diseases (e.g., Mossman fever) from northern Queensland were eventually partially attributed to mite-transmitted rickettsial infections known as scrub typhus or tsutsugamushi fever. Scrub typhus became a major medical threat to military operations in Papua New Guinea during the Second World War and killed more Australian soldiers than malaria in the pre-antibiotic era. Further investigations showed scrub typhus to be an occupational disease of rural workers in north Queensland especially around Cairns and Innisfail. Occasional small epidemics of scrub typhus still occur during military exercises in Queensland, but as scrub typhus is not a reportable disease, its presence in the civilian community is largely unknown. Increased use of serological testing in patients with fever and rash illnesses after exposure in northern Queensland is likely to show that scrub typhus is a modern infection that remains treatable with antibiotics once it is identified.
昆士兰州北部的未分化发热性疾病（例如莫斯曼热）最终部分归因于螨传播的立克次体感染，称为丛林斑疹伤寒或恙虫热。丛林斑疹伤寒在第二次世界大战期间成为巴布亚新几内亚军事行动的主要医疗威胁，在抗生素时代之前，死于丛林斑疹伤寒的澳大利亚士兵比疟疾还多。进一步的调查表明，丛林斑疹伤寒是北昆士兰州农村工人的职业病，特别是在凯恩斯和因尼斯费尔周围。在昆士兰州的军事演习中偶尔仍会发生小规模的丛林斑疹伤寒疫情，但由于丛林斑疹伤寒不是法定报告疾病，因此其在普通人群中的存在在很大程度上不为人知。在北部昆士兰地区暴露后出现发热和皮疹疾病的患者中，越来越多地使用血清学检测，可能表明丛林斑疹伤寒是一种现代感染，如果确诊，仍可用抗生素治疗。
