AN OVERVIEW ON SCRUB TYPHUS (MITE-BORNE TYPHUS): IS IT A NEGLECTED ZOONOSIS DISEASE IN EGYPT?

Scrub typhus or bush typhus is a mite-borne infectious disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamu- shi (formerly Rickettsia tsutsugamushi), a gram-negative coccobacillus antigenic distinct from trickettsia typhus group. Infection begins insidiously with headache, anorexia, and malaise, or start abruptly with chills, severe headache, myalgias and high fever or pneumonitis, meningoencephalitis, jaundicemeningitis and/or meningo-encephalitis or even spontaneous pregnancy risky outcomes. An Escher or dark rash may develop in a subset of patients. Severe complicated infection can range from mild and signs symptoms to multi-organ systemic failure in elderly delayed treated patients. Diagnosis includes serology, biopsy, culture, and PCR. Scrub typhus as anon-specific clinical disease must be differentiated from other vector-borne diseases as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, other rickettsia diseases, and insect bites as well as leptospirosis and enteric fever as typhoid.