Scrub Typhus: A Follow-up Study

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Abstract
A combined clinical and statistical study has been made on a representative sample of veterans who survived scrub typhus in the China-Burma-India theatre in World War II. The clinical studies were made on 16 men who had had severe or grave manifestations of the original illness. None had received antibiotic therapy at that time. Neither their subsequent histories nor detailed examinations and laboratory observations at follow-up gave any clear indication that significant permanent structural or functional damage had resulted from scrub typhus. However, in 3 respects abnormalities were encountered with unexpected frequency: evidence of psychopathology (in 6 individuals); electroencephalographic abnormalities (in 6 individuals); evidence of slight acoustic nerve damage (in 5 individuals). It is not possible to state with certainty whether these abnormalities are attributable to scrub typhus. In the statistical observations a sample of 524 veterans who had had scrub typhus during World War II were studied through 1955 as to morbidity and mortality. Hospital admissions and V. A. disability ratings indicated that the group under study did not differ significantly from the controls. Responses to the questionnaire concerning present and past health status did not give clear evidence of connection between present symptoms and previous disease sufficient to indicate residual damage. On the basis of all clinical and statistical evidence the conclusion is drawn that scrub typhus had not produced significant late sequelae in the population studied.

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