Rickettsial Illnesses as Important Causes of Febrile Illness in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Abstract

Scrub and murine typhus are common, treatable causes of undifferentiated febrile illnesses in hospitalized patients.

Scrub Typhus – An Overlooked Aetiology for Acute Febrile Illness in Bangladesh: A Case Report

“…In spite of significant serosurveillance reports [2][3][4] and clinical recognition of cases, rickettsial fevers are only occasionally reported in literature in or from Bangladesh. 5,6 The largest series published in 2007 revealed that clinical presentation is indistinguishable from other common causes of fever like viral and enteric fevers.…”

“…5 Presence of typical eschar in scrub typhus is also an uncommon feature. 4 Routine laboratory features are inefficient to differentiate between common causes of acute fever; serology may identify the cause. Triple antigens should be done after the first week.…”

“…Scrub and murine typhus infections are underrecognized causes of febrile illness across the tropics; in Bangladesh one-fifth to one-third of cases of acute undifferentiated fevers had seropositivity for rickettsial antigens. [2][3][4] There was no specific geographical distributions within the country but seasonal variations in species specificity were reported and controversies do exist. [2][3][4] Scrub typhus rapidly responds to doxycycline; azythromycine is also effective.…”

“…[2][3][4] There was no specific geographical distributions within the country but seasonal variations in species specificity were reported and controversies do exist. [2][3][4] Scrub typhus rapidly responds to doxycycline; azythromycine is also effective. Cases may be complicated by involvement of central nervous system, heart, kidney and liver.…”

Evidence of pathogenic zoonotic tick-borne Rickettsia and Borrelia spp. in some communal farms in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

“…Rickettsia and Borrelia spp. are both transmitted by ticks and are among the numerous zoonotic pathogens responsible for febrile illness among humans [8,9]. Rickettsial diseases, caused by organisms of the genus Rickettsia are classi ed into three biogroups the rst bio-group is known as spotted fever group (SFG) which includes Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) caused by R. rickettsia, as well as other spotted fevers such as Boutonneuse fever (Mediterranean spotted fever, Kenya tick-bite fever, Israeli spotted fever, African tick typhus, Marseilles fever, and Indian tick typhus,) caused by several other Rickettsia species.…”