Open AccessScrub typhus meningitis in a renal transplant recipient
Author(s) -
J Dhanapriya,
Thanigachalam Dineshkumar,
Ramanathan Sakthirajan,
S. Murugan,
Varadharajan Jayaprakash,
T Balasubramaniyan,
Natarajan Gopalakrishnan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
indian journal of nephrology/indian journal of nephrology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.317
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1998-3662
pISSN - 0971-4065
DOI - 10.4103/0971-4065.181883
Subject(s) - medicine , scrub typhus , eschar , azithromycin , orientia tsutsugamushi , meningitis , doxycycline , immunology , pathology , pediatrics , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
Scrub typhus is a rickettsial infection commonly seen in Asia. The clinical presentation ranges from nonspecific febrile illness to potentially fatal multiorgan involvement such as liver, kidney, or lung. Central nervous system involvement is uncommon. We report a 45-year-old female renal transplant recipient who presented with fever, headache, meningeal signs, graft dysfunction, and eschar. IgM antibodies against Orientia tsutsugamushi were positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Despite oral doxycycline therapy for 5 days, she did not improve but responded well to intravenous azithromycin. To the best of our knowledge, scrub typhus as a cause of meningitis in a renal transplant recipient has not been reported so far.