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Clinical Manifestations and Outcome of Scrub Typhus in Infants From Odisha

Jyoti Ranjan Behera1, Sanjay Kumar Sahu1, Niranjan Mohanty1

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, KIIT Deemed University, Bhubaneswar, India.

Indian Pediatrics
|April 22, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Scrub typhus in infants often presents severely with fever, feeding difficulties, and anemia. Early doxycycline treatment leads to good recovery, even in intensive care cases.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric infectious diseases
  • Rickettsial infections
  • Public health

Background:

  • Scrub typhus, a rickettsial disease, poses a significant threat globally.
  • Infant infections often present with unique challenges and potential severity.
  • Understanding specific pediatric manifestations is crucial for timely diagnosis and management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the clinical manifestations and outcomes of scrub typhus specifically in infants.
  • To identify key signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings in this age group.
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of treatment in affected infants.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective case record analysis of infants diagnosed with scrub typhus.
  • Inclusion criteria: IgM ELISA confirmed cases admitted to a tertiary care hospital.
  • Data collected from January 2016 to December 2019.

Main Results:

  • Out of 374 scrub typhus cases, 34 (9%) were infants.
  • Common symptoms included fever (100%), feeding difficulty (70.6%), lethargy (52.9%), and irritability (44.1%).
  • Key clinical findings were pallor (88.2%), tachycardia (85.3%), tachypnea (70.6%), hepatosplenomegaly (88.2%), and eschar (17.6%).
  • Laboratory findings revealed anemia (97.1%), leukocytosis (97.1%), thrombocytopenia (50%), and transaminitis (63.6%).
  • Pneumonia (52.9%) was the most frequent complication.
  • Infants needing intensive care (50%) showed thrombocytopenia, hypoalbuminemia, and transaminitis (P<0.05).

Conclusions:

  • Scrub typhus in infants frequently manifests severely, involving hematologic, pulmonary, and hepatic systems.
  • Intensive care may be required for complicated cases.
  • Doxycycline demonstrates effective treatment outcomes in infant scrub typhus.
Abstract

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