Scrub typhus is one of the most under-diagnosed and under-reported febrile illnesses. Hence, a study was conducted to diagnose the scrub typhus by using Weil Felix test (WF), Immuno-Chromatographic Test (ICT) and nested PCR (N-PCR). The primer pairs encoding the 56-KDa antigen were used for confirmation of Orientia tsutsugamushi. Serotype-specific primers were used for identification of Gilliam, Karp, Kato, Kawasaki and Kuroki strains. Out of the 46 blood samples collected from suspected human patients, 13 were found serologically positive by both WF and ICT and 12 by N-PCR. All the 12 NPCR positive samples were found positive for Karp strain. None of the rat blood samples were positive for O. tsutsugamushi. | Prevalence and molecular characterization of scrub typhus in sub-urban regions of Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh India
