A Prospective Study On Seroprevalence, Demographic Profile Along With Comparison Of Rapid Card Test With ELISA For Diagnosis Of Clinically Suspected Scrub Typhus Patients In A Tertiary Care Hospital From Southern Rajasthan.

Introduction: Scrub typhus is a rickettsial disease that is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi and might lead to death.It is often said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and so to reduce morbidity and mortality, we also need to focus on early diagnosis and treatment.As part of this study, the sensitivity and specificity of the rapid diagnostic tests with Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) were investigated, along with the seroprevalence and demographic profile of suspected scrub typhus patients.Aim: The goals of this cross-sectional study were to investigate the overall prevalence of scrub typhus and compare the diagnostic sensitivity of ELISA and rapid card tests. Materials & Methods:The study was carried out to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of rapid diagnostic tests in comparison with ELISA, in addition to the seroprevalence, clinical symptoms and demographic profile of suspicious scrub typhus patients.Results: This study showed a high seroprevalence with 485 out of 667 patients (72.7%) testing positive for scrub typhus in the clinically suspected patients in southern Rajasthan.The InBios Scrub Typhus Microlisa (ELISA Kits) is significantly more sensitive than the J Mitra Scrub Typhus (Tsutsugamushi) Rapid Card test kits, with 485 out of 489 positive cases (99.25% sensitivity), and more specific, with 182 out of 196 negative cases (93.02% specificity).ELISA positive rates were greater during the relatively cold months of October through December 430 (88.6%)." Conclusion:The study focuses on the given region, highlighting a high seroprevalence of scrub typhus.Although the standard is ELISA, rapid card tests are not very sensitive to screen individuals because of their low sensitivity.A wide range of empirical treatment options may reflect the disease's seasonal patterns of the affected individuals.