Antibiotics for treating scrub typhus.
BACKGROUND
Scrub typhus is a cause of fever in regions of Asia and the Pacific. Recently, resistance to antibiotics has been reported.


OBJECTIVE
To assess treatment regimens for scrub typhus through time to fever resolution and incidence of relapse.


METHODS
Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and contacted individual researchers for unpublished data.


METHODS
Randomised and pseudorandomised studies; patients diagnosed with scrub typhus defined by authors; any comparison of antibiotic regimens for treating scrub typhus.


METHODS
Trial quality was assessed, and data abstracted by both reviewers.


RESULTS
Three trials met the inclusion criteria. One small trial compared tetracycline against chloramphenicol. The other two trials compared doxycycline with tetracycline, and showed little difference in the proportion febrile at 48 hours, with no relapses after either drug.


CONCLUSIONS
Tetracycline and doxycycline seem to be effective in treating scrub typhus. Further research is required to identify appropriate treatment in areas where Orientia tsutsugamushi resistant to doxycycline has been reported.
Panpanich
R
R
Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 50200. rpanpani@med.cmu.ac.th
Garner
P
P
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents