Student Death Sparks Concern Over Scrub Typhus Across India

An Anna University student died from scrub typhus on Friday, September 18, 2026, at Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, drawing fresh attention to the bacterial infection. University authorities are now screening students for scrub typhus alongside dengue and leptospirosis.

The Infection and Spread

Scrub typhus is caused by the bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi and spreads through the bite of infected larval mites or chiggers, rather than mosquitoes. Chiggers live in grassy areas, thick vegetation, agricultural fields, plant litter, and bare soil in rural parts of Asia, typically feeding on small mammals like rats and shrews. The infection is not contagious.

Burden and Studies

A 2021 systematic review described scrub typhus as an under-recognised public health problem in India, noting it accounted for 25.3 percent of acute undifferentiated febrile illness studies and had a community seroprevalence of 34.2 percent. A 2025 multi-centre study of 587 children with acute encephalitis syndrome from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu found it is now the most common infectious cause of acute encephalitis syndrome in southern India. High mortality in India is mainly due to late diagnosis and treatment, as symptoms resemble other diseases.

Symptoms and Treatment

Symptoms start within 10 days and include fever, chills, headache, body aches, muscle pain, a dark scab-like region called an eschar at the bite site, mental confusion to coma, enlarged lymph nodes, and a rash. Untreated cases can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome, shock, meningitis, and kidney failure. Blood tests like IgM ELISA or PCR confirm the diagnosis, and treatment involves antibiotics such as doxycycline or azithromycin. A 2023 trial across seven Indian centres showed combination therapy of doxycycline and azithromycin results in faster recovery and fewer complications than monotherapy. No vaccine currently exists.