Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.eht-forum.org/news.html?fileId=news100413072503&from=home&id=0
Tuesday 13 April 2010
Scrub typhus reaches new part of China
Researchers alert to mite-borne disease in region previously thought to be untouched
Two years ago, more than 100 people were admitted to hospital with scrub typhus in a northern city of China?s central Anhui province, say infectious disease researchers this month in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. They became the first known cases of the disease in this area.
The disease is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mite, and can cause fever, rash, scabs, and swollen glands. If left untreated, mortality rates can reach up to 30%. It has been seen in southern China for thousands of years, but only emerged in northern China over the past two decades. Cases were first recorded in the north Chinese province of Shandong in 1986, and since then more have been reported in Tiajin, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangsu ? and now in a northwestern region of Anhui.
?Scrub typhus, caused by [the bacterium] Orientia tsutsugamushi, has emerged recently in areas of northern China where the disease had not been known to exist,? write Shouyin Zhang, of the China Centers or Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, and colleagues.
Between late September and early November in 2008, 129 people were diagnosed with scrub typhus based on their symptoms after being admitted to the Fuyang city hospital. Tests of the patients' blood revealed signs of the bacteria in 104 of these cases. Zhang and colleagues used the clinical and blood test data from these laboratory-confirmed cases to get a better understanding of the epidemiology of the disease. They say that all those infected suffered from fever and other symptoms typical of the disease including headache, fatigue, muscle pain, and chills.
Most of the patients were farmers, and the outbreak occurred during the harvest season...
Tuesday 13 April 2010
Scrub typhus reaches new part of China
Researchers alert to mite-borne disease in region previously thought to be untouched
Two years ago, more than 100 people were admitted to hospital with scrub typhus in a northern city of China?s central Anhui province, say infectious disease researchers this month in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. They became the first known cases of the disease in this area.
The disease is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mite, and can cause fever, rash, scabs, and swollen glands. If left untreated, mortality rates can reach up to 30%. It has been seen in southern China for thousands of years, but only emerged in northern China over the past two decades. Cases were first recorded in the north Chinese province of Shandong in 1986, and since then more have been reported in Tiajin, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangsu ? and now in a northwestern region of Anhui.
?Scrub typhus, caused by [the bacterium] Orientia tsutsugamushi, has emerged recently in areas of northern China where the disease had not been known to exist,? write Shouyin Zhang, of the China Centers or Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, and colleagues.
Between late September and early November in 2008, 129 people were diagnosed with scrub typhus based on their symptoms after being admitted to the Fuyang city hospital. Tests of the patients' blood revealed signs of the bacteria in 104 of these cases. Zhang and colleagues used the clinical and blood test data from these laboratory-confirmed cases to get a better understanding of the epidemiology of the disease. They say that all those infected suffered from fever and other symptoms typical of the disease including headache, fatigue, muscle pain, and chills.
Most of the patients were farmers, and the outbreak occurred during the harvest season...