An outbreak investigation of scrub typhus in Nepal: confirmation of local transmission.

Autor: Dhimal M; Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), Ramshah Path, Kathmandu, Nepal. meghdhimal2@gmail.com., Dumre SP; Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.; Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan., Sharma GN; Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.; Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal., Khanal P; Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), Ramshah Path, Kathmandu, Nepal.; Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal., Ranabhat K; Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.; Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal., Shah LP; Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal., Lal BK; Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal., Jha R; National Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal., Upadhyaya BP; National Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal., Acharya B; Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal., Shrestha SK; Walter Reed/AFRIMS Research Unit Nepal (WARUN), Kathmandu, Nepal., Davidson SA; Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, Thailand., Charoensinphon P; Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, Thailand., Karki KB; Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), Ramshah Path, Kathmandu, Nepal.; Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: BMC infectious diseases [BMC Infect Dis] 2021 Feb 18; Vol. 21 (1), pp. 193. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Feb 18.
DOI: 10.1186/s12879-021-05866-6
Abstrakt: Background: Scrub typhus is a largely ignored tropical disease and a leading cause of undifferentiated febrile illness in the areas of tsutsugamushi triangle caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. It is frequently diagnosed in South Asian countries, although clear epidemiological information is not available from Nepal. After the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, a sudden upsurge in scrub typhus cases was reported. The objective of this study was to investigate epidemiology of scrub typhus and its causative agents in humans, animals, and chigger mites to understand the ongoing transmission ecology.
Methods: Scrub typhus cases with confirmed diagnosis throughout the country were included in the analysis. Studies were concentrated in the Chitwan district, the site of a major outbreak in 2016. Additional nation-wide data from 2015 to 2017 available from the government database included to analyse the disease distribution by geographical mapping.
Results: From 2015 to 2017, 1239 scrub typhus cases were confirmed with the largest outbreak occurring in 2016 with 831 (67.1%) cases. The case fatality rate was 5.7% in 2015 which declined to 1.1% in 2017. A nationwide outbreak of scrub typhus was declared as the cases were detected in 52 out of the 75 districts of Nepal. Seasonal trend was observed with a peak during August and September. In addition to the human cases, the presence of O. tsutsugamushi was also confirmed in animals (rodents) and chigger mites (Leptotrombidium imphalum) from the outbreak areas of southern Nepal.
Conclusion: The detection of O. tsutsugamushi in humans, animals, and chigger mites from outbreak locations and wide-spread reports of scrub typhus throughout the country consecutively for 3 years confirms the ongoing transmission of O. tsutsugamushi with a firmly established ecology in Nepal. The country's health system needs to be strengthened for systematic surveillance, early outbreak detection, and immediate actions including treatment and preventive measures.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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