Co-Infection of Scrub Typhus and Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis in Korea, 2006

• Published in: Journal of Korean Medical Science Vol. 34; no. 39; pp. e257 - 9
• Main Authors: Kim, Jeong-Han, Lee, Chang-Seop, Moon, Chisook, Kwak, Yee Gyung, Kim, Baek-Nam, Kim, Eu Suk, Kang, Jae Myung, Park, Wan Beom, Oh, Myoung-don, Park, Sang-Won
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 14.10.2019; The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences; 대한의학회
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Anaplasma phagocytophilum - classification; Anaplasma phagocytophilum - genetics; Anaplasma phagocytophilum - isolation & purification; Anaplasmosis; Anaplasmosis - diagnosis; Anaplasmosis - microbiology; Coinfection; Coinfection - diagnosis; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Original; Original Article; Phlebovirus; Phlebovirus - genetics; Phlebovirus - isolation & purification; Phylogeny; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Republic of Korea; Retrospective Studies; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - metabolism; RNA, Viral; RNA, Viral - genetics; RNA, Viral - metabolism; Scrub Typhus; Scrub Typhus - diagnosis; Scrub Typhus - virology; Young Adult; 의학일반; Republic of Korea; Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Scrub Typhus; Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis; Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome; Co-Infection
• ISSN: 1011-8934; 1598-6357; 1598-6357
• DOI: 10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e257

Scrub typhus, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) and human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) are important arthropod-borne infectious diseases in Korea and share a common point that they are transmitted by arthropod bites mostly during outdoor activities and there are considerable overlaps of epidemiologic and clinical features at presentation. We investigated the co-infection of these infections. The study subjects were patients with laboratory-confirmed scrub typhus who were enrolled retrospectively in 2006. SFTS virus (SFTSV) infection was confirmed by a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify partial L segment of SFTSV for molecular diagnosis. HGA was confirmed by a nested PCR to amplify 16S rRNA gene of . Direct sequencing of the positive PCR products was performed. Clinical features of co-infected subjects were described. One-hundred sixty-seven patients with scrub typhus were included in the analysis. Co-infection of was identified in 4.2% of scrub typhus patients (7/167). The route of co-infection was uncertain. The co-infected patients had not different clinical manifestations compared to the patients with scrub typhus only. All the study subjects were negative for SFTSV. We found retrospective molecular evidence of the co-infection of scrub typhus and HGA in Korea. HGA may be more prevalent than expected and need to be considered as an important differential diagnosis of febrile patients in Korea.