Acute Onset Postpartum Pleural Effusion: A Near-Miss Maternal Case Due to Scrub Typhus Infection

A 32-year-old puerperal patient developed acute onset breathlessness and fever on the third postoperative day. On evaluation, the patient was diagnosed to have scrub typhus pneumonia without any characteristic eschar. The condition was associated with pleural effusion, and it was drained. Azithromyc...

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Published inCurēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 15; no. 2; p. e35142
Main Authors Acharya, Neema, Acharya, Sourya, Shukla, Samarth, Potdar, Jyotsana, Waghe, Tejal, Kabra, Ruchita
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Cureus Inc 18.02.2023
Cureus
Subjects
Antibiotics
Antibodies
Case reports
Cesarean section
Dehydrogenases
Fatalities
Immunoglobulins
Infections
Infectious Disease
Internal Medicine
Leukocytes
Mortality
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Patients
Pleural effusion
Pneumonia
Proteins
Respiratory system
Typhus
Ultrasonic imaging
India
pleural effusion
endemic
peripartum
puerperal
scrub typhus
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Summary:A 32-year-old puerperal patient developed acute onset breathlessness and fever on the third postoperative day. On evaluation, the patient was diagnosed to have scrub typhus pneumonia without any characteristic eschar. The condition was associated with pleural effusion, and it was drained. Azithromycin was used as the drug of choice due to the peripartum status of this patient. The patient improved due to early detection and multidisciplinary timely care. The safe outcome of this near-miss case suggests that fever profile workup, especially in scrub typhus endemic areas, should include scrub typhus testing even if classical signs are absent in the peripartum period.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.35142