Research Projects

The study demonstrated wide circulation of scrub typhus in the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in North eastern region (NER) of India accounting for about 20% of the febrile cases and also a significant aetiology of AES in this region. The known pathogenic Karp like strains are found to be prevalent in this region. Beside scrub typhus, presence of other rickettsial diseases viz., spotted fever and typhus group rickettsiae are also evident. Detection of Rickettsia sengelensis in our flea collection is a maiden report from Southeast Asia. Detection of dual infection of SFGR and TB in a AES presenting patient calls for concern among clinicians as well as health workers about the potentiality of rickettsial infections worsening the health system in TB endemic region like NER.