Use of eschar swabbing for the molecular diagnosis and genotyping of Orientia tsutsugamushi causing scrub typhus in Quang Nam province, Vietnam.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Scrub typhus is a rickettsiosis which is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi and occurs throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Molecular diagnosis of rickettsioses using eschar swabs has recently emerged, and may be very useful for the diagnosis of these diseases in tropical settings.

Methodology/principal findings

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to detect O. tsutsugamushi DNA in whole blood and eschar swab specimens of 67 patients who were clinically suspected of scrub typhus in Quang Nam province, Vietnam. Among the 20 patients for whom both eschar and whole blood were obtained, 17 (85%) of the eschar specimens and 5 (25%) of the whole blood specimens tested positive for O. tsutsugamushi. Genetic analysis of the 56-kDa TSA gene sequences demonst

SUBMITTER: Le Viet N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5344524 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature