Orientia tsutsugamushi in Lung of Patient with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, France, 2013 (http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/2/14-0860)

摘要

To the Editor: Pulmonary involvement is a well-documented complication of scrub typhus caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi ( 1 ). Lung involvement manifests as bronchitis and interstitial pneumonitis of various grades that progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a serious complication that occurs in ≈11% of scrub typhus patients ( 2 ). The death rate among scrub typhus patients with ARDS can reach 25% ( 3 ). Older age, thrombocytopenia, and the presence of early pneumonitis have been proposed as risk factors for the development of ARDS in scrub typhus patients ( 3 ). We report the detection and culture of O. tsutsugamushi in a bronchoalveolar lavage specimen from a patient with scrub typhus–associated ARDS.