Clinical characteristics of tsutsugamushi disease: an analysis of 67 cases / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

The clinical data of 67 patients with tsutsugamushi disease diagnosed and treated in Department of General Medicine, Yuxi People′s Hospital of Yunnan Province from January 2020 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 43 were males and 24 were females and most of patients were from rural areas ( n=56, 83.58%); there were 14 severe cases and 53 non-severe cases, the age of patients ranged from 41 to 65 years,and the average age of severe cases was older than that of non-severe cases. Most of patients were encountered in July to October ( n=59, 88.1%). All patients presented eschar or ulcer, which were occurred in limbs ( n=27, 40.4%), body folds ( n=22, 32.8%) or trunk ( n=18, 26.8%). The incidence of systemic rash and chills in severe group was higher than that in non-severe group ( P<0.05).The levels of Hb, platelet, ALB, uric acid and TBil in severe cases were lower than those in non-severe cases (all P<0.05), while the levels of CRP, PTC, ALT, AST, Scr, Urea nitrogen, CKMB, LDH, and APTT were higher than those in non-severe cases (all P<0.05). The curative effect of anti-rickettsia therapy in non-severe group was better than that in severe group ( χ 2=5.16, P<0.05). It is suggested that general practitioners should pay attention to tsutsugamushi disease, and early diagnosis and treatment can achieve good therapeutic effect.