Common Infectious Etiologies of Acute Febrile Illness in a Remote Geographical Location: Could Scrub Typhus be the Most Common Cause?

Abstract

Background: Disease burden of acute febrile illness due to infectious etiologies is under reported in various parts of India including Sikkim due to lack of laboratory confirmation. Undifferentiated febrile illnesses common in tropical areas of Asia are dengue, chikungunya, malaria, leptospirosis, enteric fever, chikungunya, rickettsia, Japanese encephalitis and scrub typhus. Aims: This study was conducted to determine various infectious etiologies of acute febrile illness with their clinical presentations, complications and mortality with special emphasis to scrub typhus. Setting and Design: This was a cross-sectional study and 205 patients including paediatric patients admitted with acute febrile illness were evaluated. Materials and Methods: A detailed history was taken and complete physical examination was done in all patients. Basic laboratory tests were done in all cases along with confirmatory tests. Results: In our study the most common cause of acute febrile illness was found to be scrub typhus