Genotypic Heterogeneity of Orientia tsutsugamushi in Scrub Typhus Patients and Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Co-infection, Myanmar

Serological evidence indicates widespread distribution of rickettsioses in Myanmar

“…Our finding of high STG seroprevalence in Kachin state, was also reported in studies performed during the second World War (Mackie, 1946;Sayen and Pond, 1946) and reflected in the findings of recent Chinese studies on the spatio-temporal patterns of scrub typhus infections in mainland China, which found a high incidence cluster in Chinese regions bordering on Kachin state (Wu et al, 2016;Yue et al, 2019). Furthermore, a recent report on seropositivity and genotypic diversity of scrub typhus in scrub typhus suspected cases conducted in Sagaing and Magway confirms our results of STG prevalence in these regions (Win et al, 2020). The findings of these seroprevalence studies are difficult to compare due to different inclusion criteria, such as many studies only including adults leading to higher seroprevalence than reported in our study, and a range of serological antibody tests being used with different cut-off points.…”

“…In Myanmar, studies during the Second World War described endemic cases and multiple outbreaks of scrub typhus in Chinese and American troops operating in Northern Myanmar (Mackie, 1946;Sayen and Pond, 1946). Recent studies in Myanmar have found that rickettsial infections are very J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f uncommon causes of fever in primary care clinics in Yangon (Althaus et al, 2020), but high scrub typhus IgM and IgG titres have been found in suspected scrub typhus patients in the regions of Sagaing and Magway (Win et al, 2020). Other recent studies on the Thai side of the border with Myanmar have found convincing evidence of all major groups of rickettsial infections and that 4-12% of patients presenting with (non-malarial) fever were diagnosed with rickettsial infections (Ellis et al, 2006;McGready et al, 2010;PicKard et al, 2004;Watthanaworawit et al, 2013).…”

Neutralizing Antibodies to Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus Among Survivors, Non-Survivors and Healthy Residents in South Korea

“…Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), a new tick-borne viral disease with a high mortality rate, was first reported in China in 2009, South Korea in 2010 Japan in 2013, Vietnam in 2017, Myanmar in 2018, and Taiwan in 2019 ( Yu et al., 2011 ; Takahashi et al., 2014 ; Kim et al., 2018 ; Tran et al., 2019 ; Peng et al., 2020 ; Win et al., 2020 ). Most SFTS virus (SFTSV) infections occur via bites from the tick Haemaphysalis longicornis ; however, SFTSV transmission can also occur through close contact with an infected patient ( Yoo et al., 2017 ).…”

Nonstructural Protein of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Phlebovirus Inhibits TBK1 to Evade Interferon-Mediated Response

“…Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a tick-borne phlebovirus of the Phenuiviridae family that has been emerging in the following parts of Asia: Vietnam, Myanmar, Taiwan, China, Japan, and Korea [1][2][3][4][5]. The virus is transmitted by Haemaphysalis longicornis.…”