Hyperferritinemia in children hospitalized with scrub typhus

Hyperferritinemia is increasingly associated with mortality in sepsis. Studies estimating the prevalence of hyperferritinemia in pediatric scrub typhus are limited.

This was a secondary analysis of a prospective observational study (FERRIS) from a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India where 72 children with confirmed scrub typhus, 4 (5.5%) PCR positive, 55 (76.4%)-IgM ELISA positive, and 13 (18.1%)-both PCR and ELISA positive, were analyzed. Serum ferritin was measured in 62 children to identify the prevalence of hyperferritinemia and determine its association with mortality.

Hyperferritinemia (> 500 μg/L) was seen in 72.6% [n = 45] children; 26 (41.9%) were mild (500-2000 μg/L), 13 (21%) were moderate (2000-10,000 μg/L), and 6 (9.7%) were severe (> 10,000 μg/L). Early presentation to hospital (≤ 7 days of febrile illness) had more survivors than late presentation (> 7 days). Non-survivors had significantly higher PRISM III, PELOD-2, hyperlactatemia, hypoalbuminemia, organ dysfunction, need for mechanical ventilation, and need of RRT. Ferritin had poor sensitivity and specificity in predicting survival with AUC of 0.56. Organ dysfunction and risk scores as PRISM III, PELOD 2, and VIS at admission were better predictors with AUC (95% CI) of 0.72 (0.56, 0.89), 0.77 (0.63, 0.92), and 0.90 (0.78, 1.0) respectively.

Hyperferritinemia is common in scrub typhus but it did not predict survival. Organ dysfunction and risk scores were better predictors of mortality than ferritin.