Unraveling Scrub Encephalitis: A Study on the Clinical Profile and Investigations of Scrub Encephalitis
Introduction: Scrub encephalitis (SE) is one of the known causes of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES). Although central nervous system involvement is known in scrub typhus, its association with AES is less understood and lesser diagnosed. In the absence of a point of care test for scrub typhus, case...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Indian Journal of Medical Specialities |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/injms.injms_110_21 |
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| author | Cynthia Amrutha Sukumar Nandakrishna Bolanthakodi Laawa Lakhmani Ajit Singh Sudha Vidyasagar |
| author_facet | Cynthia Amrutha Sukumar Nandakrishna Bolanthakodi Laawa Lakhmani Ajit Singh Sudha Vidyasagar |
| author_sort | Cynthia Amrutha Sukumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction:
Scrub encephalitis (SE) is one of the known causes of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES). Although central nervous system involvement is known in scrub typhus, its association with AES is less understood and lesser diagnosed. In the absence of a point of care test for scrub typhus, cases of SE can be easily missed. A clinical approach using detailed history and clinical profiling of SE will help to diagnose SE in our region, using minimum resources, within a reasonable period.
Aims:
To analyze the clinical spectrum in patients of SE and to evaluate the investigations required to diagnose SE.
Methodology:
This is a retrospective study that analyzed Scrub typhus patients over 2 years from January 2018 to December 2019. A total of 370 patients were screened and 23 patients who satisfied the study criteria were included in the study and analyzed.
Results:
Among the cases of scrub typhus admitted in the hospital, the prevalence of SE was 6%. The most common presenting complaint was fever in 21 patients (91%) followed by altered sensorium in 16 (70%) and seizures in 9 patients (39%). An eschar was noted in 66% of the cases. The mean Glasgow Coma scale was 11 among the cases with almost 70% of cases showing signs of meningeal irritation. Organ involvement was noted as thrombocytopenia in 21 patients (91%), 16 patients (69%) with jaundice, and 1 (4%) with acute kidney injury.
Conclusion:
SE is an AES which, if detected early, is easily treatable with no residual neurological sequelae. Hence, identification of this condition and prompt diagnosis of SE becomes crucial to the management of this complication of scrub typhus. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6a58f9502b1a457e8803712c5eefcd0a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0976-2884 0976-2892 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Indian Journal of Medical Specialities |
| spelling | doaj-art-6a58f9502b1a457e8803712c5eefcd0a2025-08-25T08:38:17ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsIndian Journal of Medical Specialities0976-28840976-28922022-04-01132778110.4103/injms.injms_110_21Unraveling Scrub Encephalitis: A Study on the Clinical Profile and Investigations of Scrub EncephalitisCynthia Amrutha SukumarNandakrishna BolanthakodiLaawa LakhmaniAjit SinghSudha VidyasagarIntroduction: Scrub encephalitis (SE) is one of the known causes of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES). Although central nervous system involvement is known in scrub typhus, its association with AES is less understood and lesser diagnosed. In the absence of a point of care test for scrub typhus, cases of SE can be easily missed. A clinical approach using detailed history and clinical profiling of SE will help to diagnose SE in our region, using minimum resources, within a reasonable period. Aims: To analyze the clinical spectrum in patients of SE and to evaluate the investigations required to diagnose SE. Methodology: This is a retrospective study that analyzed Scrub typhus patients over 2 years from January 2018 to December 2019. A total of 370 patients were screened and 23 patients who satisfied the study criteria were included in the study and analyzed. Results: Among the cases of scrub typhus admitted in the hospital, the prevalence of SE was 6%. The most common presenting complaint was fever in 21 patients (91%) followed by altered sensorium in 16 (70%) and seizures in 9 patients (39%). An eschar was noted in 66% of the cases. The mean Glasgow Coma scale was 11 among the cases with almost 70% of cases showing signs of meningeal irritation. Organ involvement was noted as thrombocytopenia in 21 patients (91%), 16 patients (69%) with jaundice, and 1 (4%) with acute kidney injury. Conclusion: SE is an AES which, if detected early, is easily treatable with no residual neurological sequelae. Hence, identification of this condition and prompt diagnosis of SE becomes crucial to the management of this complication of scrub typhus.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/injms.injms_110_21acute encephalitis syndromescrub encephalitisscrub typhus |
| spellingShingle | Cynthia Amrutha Sukumar Nandakrishna Bolanthakodi Laawa Lakhmani Ajit Singh Sudha Vidyasagar Unraveling Scrub Encephalitis: A Study on the Clinical Profile and Investigations of Scrub Encephalitis Indian Journal of Medical Specialities acute encephalitis syndrome scrub encephalitis scrub typhus |
| title | Unraveling Scrub Encephalitis: A Study on the Clinical Profile and Investigations of Scrub Encephalitis |
| title_full | Unraveling Scrub Encephalitis: A Study on the Clinical Profile and Investigations of Scrub Encephalitis |
| title_fullStr | Unraveling Scrub Encephalitis: A Study on the Clinical Profile and Investigations of Scrub Encephalitis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unraveling Scrub Encephalitis: A Study on the Clinical Profile and Investigations of Scrub Encephalitis |
| title_short | Unraveling Scrub Encephalitis: A Study on the Clinical Profile and Investigations of Scrub Encephalitis |
| title_sort | unraveling scrub encephalitis a study on the clinical profile and investigations of scrub encephalitis |
| topic | acute encephalitis syndrome scrub encephalitis scrub typhus |
| url | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/injms.injms_110_21 |
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