Mite‐borne (Scrub) Typhus in Papua and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea: Report of 626 Cases

Williams, Stephen W.; Sinclair, Alex; Jackson, A. V.

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.1944.tb31625.x

Cited by 15 publications

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“…Increasing mortality with age is likely to be influenced by comorbidities, which increase with age, and immunosenescence. Co-infection or physical exhaustion [ 17 ] may also lead to a higher mortality, with a reported mortality of 25% in 150 post-combat soldiers co-infected with dysentery or malaria in Papua New Guinea [ 31 ]. It unknown whether gender influences mortality and in this study the majority of patients were male (88.6%), mostly Second World War soldiers, so it is not possible to draw strong conclusions on differences in mortality between sexes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Mortality from Untreated Scrub Typhus (Orientia tsutsugamushi)

2015

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BackgroundScrub typhus, a bacterial infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, is increasingly recognized as an important cause of fever in Asia, with an estimated one million infections occurring each year. Limited access to health care and the disease’s non-specific symptoms mean that many patients are undiagnosed and untreated, but the mortality from untreated scrub typhus is unknown. This review systematically summarizes the literature on the untreated mortality from scrub typhus and disease outcomes.Methodology/Principal FindingsA literature search was performed to identify patient series containing untreated patients. Patients were included if they were symptomatic and had a clinical or laboratory diagnosis of scrub typhus and excluded if they were treated with antibiotics. The primary outcome was mortality from untreated scrub typhus and secondary outcomes were total days of fever, clinical symptoms, and laboratory results. A total of 76 studies containing 89 patient series and 19,644 patients were included in the final analysis. The median mortality of all patient series was 6.0% with a wide range (min-max) of 0–70%. Many studies used clinical diagnosis alone and had incomplete data on secondary outcomes. Mortality varied by location and increased with age and in patients with myocarditis, delirium, pneumonitis, or signs of hemorrhage, but not according to sex or the presence of an eschar or meningitis. Duration of fever was shown to be long (median 14.4 days Range (9–19)).ConclusionsResults show that the untreated mortality from scrub typhus appears lower than previously reported estimates. More data are required to clarify mortality according to location and host factors, clinical syndromes including myocarditis and central nervous system disease, and in vulnerable mother-child populations. Increased surveillance and improved access to diagnostic tests are required to accurately estimate the untreated mortality of scrub typhus. This information would facilitate reliable quantification of DALYs and guide empirical treatment strategies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Mortality from Untreated Scrub Typhus (Orientia tsutsugamushi)

2015

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“…1). In a case series of 626 cases in the Australian Army (2/9th Australian General Hospital) in 1942–1943, nearly 10% mortality was seen usually occurring between the second and third week of febrile illness 9 . See Figure 2A showing the prolonged nature of the illness.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Scrub typhus in Australian soldiers during the Second World War. (A) Days of fever distribution in Australian soldiers infected with scrub typhus in Papua New Guinea 1942–1943, with fatal cases marked separately showing the active phase of the rickettsial infection often lasted a few weeks 9 . (B) Scrub typhus cases and deaths within the Australian Army in Papua New Guinea 10 .…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a case series of 626 cases in the Australian Army (2/9th Australian General Hospital) in 1942-1943, nearly 10% mortality was seen usually occurring between the second and third week of febrile illness. 9 See Figure 2A showing the prolonged nature of the illness. Over the entire Papua New Guinea campaign, it was estimated that nearly 3000 scrub typhus cases occurred with a 9% case mortality rate 10 (Fig.…”

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Historical epidemics of scrub typhus in Queensland and Papua New Guinea

Shanks

2023

Internal Medicine Journal

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Undifferentiated febrile diseases (e.g., Mossman fever) from northern Queensland were eventually partially attributed to mite‐transmitted rickettsial infections known as scrub typhus or tsutsugamushi fever. Scrub typhus became a major medical threat to military operations in Papua New Guinea during the Second World War and killed more Australian soldiers than malaria in the pre‐antibiotic era. Further investigations showed scrub typhus to be an occupational disease of rural workers in north Queensland especially around Cairns and Innisfail. Occasional small epidemics of scrub typhus still occur during military exercises in Queensland, but as scrub typhus is not a reportable disease, its presence in the civilian community is largely unknown. Increased use of serological testing in patients with fever and rash illnesses after exposure in northern Queensland is likely to show that scrub typhus is a modern infection that remains treatable with antibiotics once it is identified.

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Scrub typhus. A comparison of chloramphenicol and tetracycline in its treatment

Sheehy¹

1973

Archives of Internal Medicine

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Mite‐borne (Scrub) Typhus in Papua and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea: Report of 626 Cases

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

A Systematic Review of Mortality from Untreated Scrub Typhus (Orientia tsutsugamushi)

A Systematic Review of Mortality from Untreated Scrub Typhus (Orientia tsutsugamushi)

Historical epidemics of scrub typhus in Queensland and Papua New Guinea

Scrub typhus. A comparison of chloramphenicol and tetracycline in its treatment

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