Orientia tsutsugamushi in Eschars from Scrub Typhus Patients

oleh: Yun-Xi Liu, Wu-Chun Cao, Yuan Gao, Jing-Lan Zhang, Zhan-Qing Yang, Zhong-Tang Zhao, Janet Foley

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2006-07-01

Deskripsi

To verify the value of eschars for the diagnosis of scrub typhus and to characterize genotypes of Orientia tsutsugamushi in patients, we examined eschars and blood specimens of 7 patients from Shandong Province, People's Republic of China, for O. tsutsugamushi by polymerase chain reaction targeting the Sta56 gene. All 7 eschars and acute-phase blood samples were positive, while no specific DNA amplicons were obtained from the 7 convalescent-phase blood samples collected after antimicrobial drug therapy. The findings indicate that patients' eschars can be used for detection and genetic characterization of O. tsutsugamushi during the convalescent phase.