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No scrub typhus fever cases reported in Sri Lanka

09 Sep 2021

  • Indian cases/deaths linked to bacteria
By Dinitha Rathnayake No cases of scrub typhus-based fever, which has claimed the lives of dozens of Indian children, have been reported in Sri Lanka yet, noted a local medical expert. Speaking to The Morning, Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Samantha de Silva said that no such cases have been reported in Sri Lanka at the moment. Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by the Orientia tsutsugamushi bacteria and is spread to people through the bites of infected chiggers or larval mites. Meanwhile, according to media reports, Indian health officials have identified both scrub typhus and dengue as the cause of this fever. More than 100 people in the North Indian State of Uttar Pradesh have died in the last two weeks, and thousands have fallen ill as a result. For more than a week now, children in certain districts in Uttar Pradesh have been waking up with high fever and drenched in sweat. Many of them have complained of joint pains, headache, dehydration, and nausea. In some cases, they reported rashes spreading across legs and arms. A drop in the platelet count has also been observed in many fatal cases. At least 50 people, mostly children, have died of the fever, and several hundred have been admitted to hospital in six districts in the eastern part of the State. None of the dead have tested positive for Covid-19. The Independent quoted Manish Asija, a lawmaker in the Firozabad region of Uttar Pradesh, where a number of these cases have occurred, as observing that “water logging, and the lack of sanitation and hygiene are the reasons behind the disease spread”. According to BBC, these mites live on plants that flourish after the monsoon rains, and they get into people’s homes atop firewood.  


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