A 39-year-old woman passed away in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday due to scrub typhus. Prior to her, a 15-year-old died owing to the same disease
Image used for representational purposes. Pixabay
The state of Kerala is on alert after it reported a second death due to scrub typhus in the last three days.
Thiruvananthapuram native Subitha, 39, passed away on the morning of Sunday due to scrub typhus. News reports state that she was suffering from the disease for the past 15 days and had been admitted to hospital on 10 June.
Before Subitha, 15-year-old Ashwathi had died in Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram district due to the disease. She was awaiting the results of her Class X board examination when she contracted the disease and passed away.
Following the first demise, Health Minister Veena George had said steps will be taken to strengthen guard in the affected areas and destroy the ticks.
As concern grows, here’s a closer look at what the disease — called chellu pani in local parlance — is, its symptoms and cure.
What is scrub typhus?
Scrub typhus is an infectious disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, a mite-borne bacterium, according to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC says that scrub typhus is also known as bush typhus and spreads to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). Chigger mites, the larval stage of mites, transmit the disease from animals like rats, squirrels, rabbits and so on to humans.
Most cases of scrub typhus occur in rural areas of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, China, Japan, India, and northern Australia. Anyone living in or travelling to these areas could get infected.
According to a report published in The Telegraph, epidemics of scrub typhus broke out during World War II in Myanmar and Sri Lanka (then Burma and Ceylon, respectively). In the immediate aftermath of the war, the disease was also rampant in Japan, where it was known as the “Shichitō fever” or the “Hatsuka fever”.
There have been scrub typhus outbreaks in Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Darjeeling (West Bengal) during 2003–2004 and 2007.
Symptoms and signs
The symptoms of scrub typhus are similar to symptoms of many other vector-borne diseases and usually begin within 10 days of being bitten.
The common symptoms of this disease are: Fever and chills, headaches, body aches and muscle pain.
The site where the chigger bites develops a dark, scab-like region, which is also known as eschar. After contracting the infection, a person can experience mental changes, ranging from confusion to coma, according to CDC.
The infection can lead to respiratory distress, inflammation of the brain and the lungs, kidney failure and then multi-organ failure, ultimately leading to death.
Mortality rates for scrub typhus range from one per cent to 50 per cent depending on proper antibiotic treatment, status of the individual infected, and the strain of O. tsutsugamushi encountered.
Treatment and cure
The CDC prescribes antibiotic doxycycline to treat scrub typhus.
When it comes to prevention, there’s no vaccine to avoid the disease. However, one can avoid contracting the disease by avoiding areas with lots of vegetation where chiggers may be found.
The CDC says that one must use insect repellents containing DEET or other active ingredients registered for use against chiggers, on exposed skin and clothing.
Additionally, one must dress their child in clothing that covers arms and legs, or cover crib, stroller, and baby carrier with mosquito netting.
With inputs from agencies
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