title: Diagnosis of scrub typhus.
abstract: Scrub typhus is transmitted by trombiculid mites and is endemic to East and Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. The clinical syndrome classically consists of a fever, rash, and eschar, but scrub typhus also commonly presents as an undifferentiated fever that requires laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis, usually by indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) assay. We discuss the limitations of IFA, debate the value of other methods based on antigen detection and nucleic acid amplification, and outline recommendations for future study.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.gavin.koh@gmail.com
authors.forename: Gavin C K W
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Maude
authors.forename: Daniel H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Paris
authors.forename: Paul N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.forename: Stuart D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Blacksell
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial