China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Mites
Published in Jerome Goddard, Public Health Entomology, 2022
Infestation with trombiculid larvae is called trombiculosis, or sometimes trombidiosis. Larval chiggers crawl up on blades of grass or leaves and subsequently get on passing vertebrate hosts. On humans, they attach to the skin anywhere (Figure 18.4), but particularly where clothing fits snugly or where flesh is tender, such as ankles, groin, or waistline. Chiggers then attach to the skin with their mouthparts, inject saliva into the wound (which dissolves tissue), and then suck up this semidigested material. They do not actually burrow in human skin; only the chelicerae penetrate the skin of the host. Feeding is aided by formation of a stylostome, or feeding tube, created by interaction of the saliva and surrounding skin tissue. Scrub typhus, a zoonotic rickettsial infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, is mite-borne and occurs over much of Southeast Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, islands of the southwest Pacific, and coastal Australia (Queensland) (Figure 18.5). Chiggers are the vectors, so the name chigger-borne ricketsiosis might be more appropriate for the disease. Scrub typhus occurs in nature in small, but intense foci of infected host animals. These “mite islands” or “typhus islands” occur where the appropriate combination of rickettsiae, vectors, and suitable animal hosts occurs.4,5 Epidemics occur when susceptible individuals come into contact with these areas. Historically, military operations have often been severely affected by scrub typhus.6
Spinal Cord Disease
Published in Philip B. Gorelick, Fernando D. Testai, Graeme J. Hankey, Joanna M. Wardlaw, Hankey's Clinical Neurology, 2020
There have been single case reports in the literature involving: Campylobacter jejuni.Tropheryma whippeli (Whipple's disease).Orientia tsutsugamushi (scrub typhus).
Infectious Disease and Foreign Travel Emergencies
Published in Anthony FT Brown, Michael D Cadogan, Emergency Medicine, 2020
Anthony FT Brown, Michael D Cadogan
Scrub typhus is one of the spotted fevers, and is caused by an acute bacterial infection by Orientia tsutsugamushi, transmitted by trombiculid mites (‘chiggers’). Foci of scrub typhus occur in South-East Asia, northern Japan and northern Australia. Other tick-borne spotted fevers include Queensland tick typhus, Rocky Mountain and Mediterranean.
Acute transverse myelitis following scrub typhus: A case report and review of the literature
Published in The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2020
Hyun-Seung Ryu, Bong Ju Moon, Jae-Young Park, Sang-Deok Kim, Seung-Kwon Seo, Jung-Kil Lee
Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness and mite-borne bacterial infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, an obligate gram-negative intracellular bacterium.1 The bacterium is transmitted by the bite of the trombiculid mite (chigger), which leaves the tell-tale pathognomonic eschar.1 Scrub typhus is known to occur throughout Asia, but recent evidence suggests that its range may be larger, with case reports in Asia-Pacific, including Korea.2 Patients with scrub typhus usually develop various complications, such as myocarditis, arrhythmia, and interstitial pneumonia.2 Neurological manifestations in scrub typhus are infrequent, but recently central nervous system (CNS) manifestations in the form of meningitis or meningoencephalitis have been reported.3,4 However, to our knowledge, scrub typhus invasion of the spinal cord is very rare.5 Hence, we present a case of acute transverse myelitis following scrub typhus with a review of the literature.
Scrub typhus (Tsutsugamushi disease) in a patient presenting with hemophagocytic syndrome
Published in Immunological Medicine, 2018
Takahiko Akagi, Tomoyuki Mukai, Shoko Tsuji, Yoshitaka Morita
Scrub typhus (also known as Tsutsugamushi disease) is a mite-borne infectious disease caused by O. tsutsugamushi (previously named Rickettsia tsutsugamushi). This disease has been mainly reported in East and Southeast Asia and in the northern regions in Australia [1]. This disease is most common in rural areas. Our patient lived in the rural area and also had been engaged in agriculture as the main occupation. Scrub typhus is associated with non-specific symptoms, including fever, headache, cough, myalgia, and rash. The rash occurs in about one half of all patients and spreads from the trunk to the extremities; this rash was present in our patient. At the site of the infecting chigger bite, a papule often appears and then turns to a characteristic eschar with a thick black crust. Although eschar is the pathognomonic feature of scrub typhus, reports of its frequency in patients with the disease are highly variable (7–80%) [1]. This feature might be overlooked without careful examination of the skin. In our case, the bite, which developed into a skin ulcer, was located on the buttock (Figure 1).
Detection of co-infection with Orientia tsutsugamushand and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome by next-generation sequencing
Published in International Journal of Neuroscience, 2023
Qianhui Xu, Wenyi Zhang, Qian Wang, Xuejun Fu, Jing Han, Ying Huang
Scrub typhus is an infectious disease transmitted by ticks and is caused by O. tsutsugamushi. In the third century, the Chinese first reported the disease, and it was not until the end of the nineteenth century that the description of the typical characteristics of the disease occurred in the West. Cases of scrub typhus in the southeastern provinces of China are geographically clustered, accounting for a large proportion of all reported cases. At present, the annual incidence of Hantaan virus disease in China is very high. The number of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) cases reported in China is 16,000 − 100,000 or more per year. Most cases are caused by the Seoul virus, and some are caused by the Hantaan virus. Many cases of Hantaan virus disease are probably not reported, in part because Hantaan virus disease is clinically confused with leptospirosis, dengue fever, malaria, and other diseases (especially in the tropics). HFRS is mainly thought to be transmitted to humans by inhalation of aerosolized excreta from infected animals [3]. However, some attempts have been made to determine whether trombiculid mites can carry or transmit the Hantaan virus in nature [4,5]. Evidence supporting the mite hypothesis is speculative [5]. In our case, based on co-infection with O. tsutsugamushand and HFRS, we cannot rule out the possibility that trombiculid mites might transmit hantavirus at the same time. Another possibility is that the patient is a farmer who works in the field, allowing them more opportunities to be exposed to infected rodents, which may carry or harbor both O. tsutsugamushi and hantavirus [6].