| Autor: |
Marks, M, Joshua, C, Longbottom, J, Longbottom, K, Sio, A, Puiahi, E, Jilini, G, Stenos, J, Dalipanda, T, Musto, J |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2016 |
| Předmět: |
|
| ISSN: |
2094-7321 |
| Popis: |
To identify the etiology and risk factors of undifferentiated fever in a cluster of patients in Western Province, Solomon Islands, May 2014. An outbreak investigation with a case control study was conducted. A case was defined as an inpatient in one hospital in Western Province, Solomon Islands with high fever (> 38.5 °C) and a negative malaria microscopy test admitted between 1 and 31 May 2014. Asymptomatic controls matched with the cases residentially were recruited in a ratio of 1:2. Serum samples from the subjects were tested for rickettsial infections using indirect micro-immunofluorescence assay. Nine cases met the outbreak case definition. All cases were male. An eschar was noted in five cases (55%), and one developed pneumonitis. We did not identify any environmental factors associated with illness. Serum samples of all five follow-up cases (100%) had strong-positive IgG responses to scrub typhus. All but one control (10%) had a moderate response against scrub typhus. Four controls had low levels of antibodies against spotted fever group rickettsia, and only one had a low-level response to typhus group rickettsia. This outbreak represents the first laboratory-confirmed outbreak of scrub typhus in the Western Province of Solomon Islands. The results suggest that rickettsial infections are more common than currently recognized as a cause of an acute febrile illness. A revised clinical case definition for rickettsial infections and treatment guidelines were developed and shared with provincial health staff for better surveillance and response to future outbreaks of a similar kind. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
