title: Successful diagnosis using scab for PCR specimen in Tsutsugamushi disease.
abstract: We treated a case of Tsutsugamushi disease diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using a scab specimen at the bite site of trombiculid mites. Otherwise the diagnosis could not be confirmed by serum antibody test nor the PCR test of blood. The genome of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi was detected and identified as the Kawasaki serotype strain. An attempt to extract the genome from the scab has not been reported, thus our data suggest that the scab is a useful specimen to confirm the diagnosis of Tsutsugamushi disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Numata National Hospital, Gunma.
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Seiichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miwa
authors.forename: Kazumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsunoda
authors.forename: Hidemasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuwabara
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Furuya
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dobashi
authors.forename: Masatomo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mori
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000469:parasitology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008911:Minocycline / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012285:Orientia tsutsugamushi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D014324:Trombiculidae / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008911:Minocycline