Antibiotic therapy failure and clinical outcomes in scrub typhus patients from Guangzhou city, southern China.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotic therapy failure in scrub typhus (ST) has raised concerns about first-line antibiotic efficacy, necessitating reevaluation of recommended antibiotic therapies. A multicenter retrospective analysis included 2029 non-severe ST patients hospitalized in Guangzhou from 2012 to 2018. Antibiotic therapy failure was defined as needing to switch initial antibiotics due to persistent fever, clinical deterioration, or clinician-assessed need. The clinical outcomes of three antibiotic therapies were compared. Antibiotic therapy failure led to significantly greater medical needs, as evidenced by prolonged hospital stays (8 vs. 7 days, P < 0.001), longer antibiotic courses (7 vs. 5 days, P < 0.001), increased incidence of fever lasting over 5 days(19.7% [200/1821] vs. 11.0% [41/208], P < 0.001

SUBMITTER: Long J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12932638 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature