title: Outbreak of scrub typhus in Puducherry & Tamil Nadu during cooler months.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The southern part of India has witnessed an increase in scrub typhus (ST) during the past ten years. ST outbreaks occurred during winter months but at intervals of one to three years. With only a few reports of ST in Puducherry, this study was undertaken to look for the persistence of ST cases in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu in the winter months.
  
  
  METHODS
  During relatively cooler months of September, 2012 to March, 2013, a total of 45 patients with fever and clinical suspicion of ST and who provided both acute and convalescent blood samples were included. Total WBC, platelet counts, serum creatinine, liver enzymes levels and a rapid immunochromatographic test (RICT) for ST were first done. Paired serum samples were analysed by two specific tests - ST IgM and IgG ELISA- and a non-specific, but widely used Weil-Felix (WF) test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 45 patients, 21 adults and seven children were confirmed as ST based on clinical and laboratory findings, and positivity in specific serological test(s). Setting ST IgM and IgG ELISA as reference, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for RICT were 91.67, 85.71 per cent; 90.48, 100 per cent; 91.67, 100 per cent and 90.48, 80.95 per cent, respectively. Similarly, for WF the values were 83.33, 75 per cent; 95.24, 100 per cent; 95.24, 100 per cent and 83.33, 70.83 per cent, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ST continues to persist in the cooler months in Puducherry and neighbouring Tamil Nadu with fever and myalgia as prominent features. None of the tests evaluated in this study was found to be ideal, but ST IgM/IgG ELISA was useful for batch testing and the non-specific WF test can be used in resource poor settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: Selvaraj
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stephen
authors.forename: Balakrishnan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sangeetha
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ambroise
authors.forename: Kengamuthu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sarangapani
authors.forename: Dhandapany
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gunasekaran
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanifah
authors.forename: Subramanian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Somasundaram
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012621:Seasons; D055815:Young Adult