Trends in the Incidence of Scrub Typhus: The Fastest Growing Vector-Borne Disease in Korea

Abstract

Scrub typhus, also called tsutsugamushi disease, is classified as a Group 3 disease in Korea according to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance Systems. It is an infectious disease transmitted to humans through the bite of mites that are infected with an intracellular parasite called Orientia tsutsugamushi (Family: Rickettsiaceae). This study aims to identify the demographic characteristics of the infected cases according to profession, region, gender, and onset period and provide a basic data for prevention and control of the disease in the infected patients. Between 2001 and 2010, 16,741 men (36.3%) and 29,373 women (63.7%) were reported to have been infected with scrub typhus, with men being 1.6 times less infected than women. When classified according to age, it was found that 4421 persons (9.6%) were under 40 years of age; 6601 (13.1%) in their 40s; 9714 (21.1%) in their 50s; 13,067 (28.3%) in 60s; 10,128 (22.0%) in their 70s; and 2723 (5.9%) aged 80 or more. The elderly (60 years or older) represented more than half of the infected cases. When the infections were classified according to region, it was found that the county residents had the major share of infection, with a total of 1583 infected cases (59.85).

Prevalence and risk factors for scrub typhus in South India

“…The strong association of scrub typhus exposure with older age and female sex is somewhat surprising. The association with female sex has been previously reported in Malaysia , Korea, Thailand and Japan . The reason for this association has been speculated to be the differing roles of men and women in those societies, with rural women spending more time doing the types of work associated with scrub typhus acquisition.…”

Seropositivity of Scrub Typhus Inpatients Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital in Western Odisha

“…23 states of India have reported the presence of Scrub typhus and Odisha is one of them. 8,9,10,11 Case fatality varies in different region ranging from 0 to 100%. However median case fatality rate is 1.4% and 6% in treated and untreated patient respectively.…”

Central Nervous System Infection Associated with Orientia tsutsugamushi in South Korea

“…[5][6][7][8] In South Korea, more than 5,000 cases have been annually reported since 2005, and the proportion of infected persons living in urban areas is rising. 1,9 Meningitis or encephalitis occurs in approximately 10% of patients that are hospitalized because of scrub typhus. 10 Despite the persistently high incidence of scrub typhus in South Korea, very little is known about its neurological manifestations.…”