Tsutsugamushi Disease and Acute Bilateral Hearing Loss.
- Author:
Chan Hee NAM
1
;
Misoo CHOI
;
Ji Seok KIM
;
Jee Young KIM
;
Seung Phil HONG
;
Byung Cheol PARK
;
Myung Hwa KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Dermatology, Dankook University Medical College, Cheonan, Korea. ivymyung@hanmail.net
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
Scrub typhus;
Sensorineural hearing loss;
Tsutsugamushi disease
- MeSH:
Acute Kidney Injury;
Aged;
Antibodies;
Diagnosis;
Doxycycline;
Exanthema;
Female;
Fever;
Hearing Loss;
Hearing Loss, Bilateral*;
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural;
Hepatitis;
Humans;
Korea;
Lymph Nodes;
Meningitis;
Myocarditis;
Orientia tsutsugamushi;
Pneumonia;
Scrub Typhus*
- From:Korean Journal of Dermatology
2015;53(10):788-791
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. The main symptoms of scrub typhus are fever, eschar, generalized rash, and swelling of the lymph nodes. Complications include pneumonia, myocarditis, meningitis, hepatitis, acute renal failure, and hearing loss. We report a rare case of Tsutsugamushi disease with acute bilateral hearing loss in a 65-year-old woman. The antibodies against O. tsutsugamushi were detected which led to the diagnosis of scrub typhus. She was treated immediately with oral doxycycline for 9 days and had a rapid and complete recovery. Scrub typhus can be associated with hearing loss, which is present in approximately one-third of the cases, but it is rare in Korea, therefore it is easy to misdiagnose scrub typhus as any other otological abnormalities. When patients present with fever, rash, and sensorineural hearing loss, clinicians should suspect scrub typhus and consider empirical antibiotic therapy.
