Halved Incidence of Scrub Typhus after Travel Restrictions to Confine a Surge of COVID-19 in Taiwan

Scrub typhus is a rickettsial disease that is usually transmitted by mite exposure. Infected patients may present with a fever, fatigue, headache, and muscle pain. A blackish skin lesion, called eschar, is pathognomic. The mortality rate in untreated cases is high. The first case of scrub typhus in...

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Autores principales:	En-Cheng Lin, Hung-Pin Tu, Chien-Hui Hong
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	scrub typhus rickettsial disease <i>Orientia tsutsugamushi</i> COVID-19 Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e81cf6dca76440269772d47ab66392c3
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e81cf6dca76440269772d47ab66392c32021-11-25T18:37:50ZHalved Incidence of Scrub Typhus after Travel Restrictions to Confine a Surge of COVID-19 in Taiwan10.3390/pathogens101113862076-0817https://doaj.org/article/e81cf6dca76440269772d47ab66392c32021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/10/11/1386https://doaj.org/toc/2076-0817Scrub typhus is a rickettsial disease that is usually transmitted by mite exposure. Infected patients may present with a fever, fatigue, headache, and muscle pain. A blackish skin lesion, called eschar, is pathognomic. The mortality rate in untreated cases is high. The first case of scrub typhus in Taiwan was reported in 1908 during the Japanese colonization. In this article, using the National Infectious Disease Statistics System (NIDSS) from the Taiwan CDC, we analyzed the dynamic incidence of scrub typhus from 2016 to 2021, both seasonally and geographically. In addition, we asked whether the recent travel restrictions and social distancing policy in Taiwan (19 May to 27 July 2021), implemented due to the COVID-19 outbreak, would change the incidence of scrub typhus. The results showed that scrub typhus was most common in summer, with an incidence almost twofold greater than that in winter or spring. Most cases were identified in rural regions. Interestingly, there was a significant 52% reduction in the summer incidence in 2021, compared to the average summer incidence of the past 5 years. This reduction coincided with the countrywide lockdown measures and travel restrictions. The restricted measures for outdoor activities may have contributed to the reduced incidence of scrub typhus.En-Cheng LinHung-Pin TuChien-Hui HongMDPI AGarticlescrub typhusrickettsial disease<i>Orientia tsutsugamushi</i>COVID-19MedicineRENPathogens, Vol 10, Iss 1386, p 1386 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	scrub typhus rickettsial disease <i>Orientia tsutsugamushi</i> COVID-19 Medicine R
spellingShingle	scrub typhus rickettsial disease <i>Orientia tsutsugamushi</i> COVID-19 Medicine R En-Cheng Lin Hung-Pin Tu Chien-Hui Hong Halved Incidence of Scrub Typhus after Travel Restrictions to Confine a Surge of COVID-19 in Taiwan
description	Scrub typhus is a rickettsial disease that is usually transmitted by mite exposure. Infected patients may present with a fever, fatigue, headache, and muscle pain. A blackish skin lesion, called eschar, is pathognomic. The mortality rate in untreated cases is high. The first case of scrub typhus in Taiwan was reported in 1908 during the Japanese colonization. In this article, using the National Infectious Disease Statistics System (NIDSS) from the Taiwan CDC, we analyzed the dynamic incidence of scrub typhus from 2016 to 2021, both seasonally and geographically. In addition, we asked whether the recent travel restrictions and social distancing policy in Taiwan (19 May to 27 July 2021), implemented due to the COVID-19 outbreak, would change the incidence of scrub typhus. The results showed that scrub typhus was most common in summer, with an incidence almost twofold greater than that in winter or spring. Most cases were identified in rural regions. Interestingly, there was a significant 52% reduction in the summer incidence in 2021, compared to the average summer incidence of the past 5 years. This reduction coincided with the countrywide lockdown measures and travel restrictions. The restricted measures for outdoor activities may have contributed to the reduced incidence of scrub typhus.
format	article
author	En-Cheng Lin Hung-Pin Tu Chien-Hui Hong
author_facet	En-Cheng Lin Hung-Pin Tu Chien-Hui Hong
author_sort	En-Cheng Lin
title	Halved Incidence of Scrub Typhus after Travel Restrictions to Confine a Surge of COVID-19 in Taiwan
title_short	Halved Incidence of Scrub Typhus after Travel Restrictions to Confine a Surge of COVID-19 in Taiwan
title_full	Halved Incidence of Scrub Typhus after Travel Restrictions to Confine a Surge of COVID-19 in Taiwan
title_fullStr	Halved Incidence of Scrub Typhus after Travel Restrictions to Confine a Surge of COVID-19 in Taiwan
title_full_unstemmed	Halved Incidence of Scrub Typhus after Travel Restrictions to Confine a Surge of COVID-19 in Taiwan
title_sort	halved incidence of scrub typhus after travel restrictions to confine a surge of covid-19 in taiwan
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e81cf6dca76440269772d47ab66392c3
work_keys_str_mv	AT enchenglin halvedincidenceofscrubtyphusaftertravelrestrictionstoconfineasurgeofcovid19intaiwan AT hungpintu halvedincidenceofscrubtyphusaftertravelrestrictionstoconfineasurgeofcovid19intaiwan AT chienhuihong halvedincidenceofscrubtyphusaftertravelrestrictionstoconfineasurgeofcovid19intaiwan
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Halved Incidence of Scrub Typhus after Travel Restrictions to Confine a Surge of COVID-19 in Taiwan

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