At least 7 affected by scrub typhus in past 48 hrs

Kolkata: As many as seven people including children from various parts of Murshidabad have been affected by scrub typhus in the past 48 hours.

Around nine people from the districts have so far been admitted to the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, out of which 5 are children. This has become a concern for the Health department.

Taking a note of reports of scrub typhus from some parts of Murshidabad, the state Health department has directed the district health officials to be alert and vigilant.

"Scrub typhus is a disease that can be treated with antibiotics, if it is detected early.

So, early detection is of the utmost importance. We have directed the hospital to keep

a tab if fever continues for a period of five days in a patient," a senior official from the district said.

All the patients are running high temperature and many of them have various other symptoms which include vomiting. The disease is spread among people through the bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by bacteria called orientia tsutsugamushi and it commonly occurs in rural areas.

The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body aches and sometimes rash. Most cases of scrub typhus have so far been reported in rural areas of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, China, Japan, India and Northern Australia.