Development of new diagnostic tools for scrub typhus infections
Principal Investigator : Jeanne Salje, University of Oxford/ Department of Microbiology
Project Status : On-going
Project Summary
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Most severe rickettsial infections and a leading cause of acute undifferentiated fever
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Mite borne – Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ot),
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Endemic across Asia, but spreading. Cases have been shown in Africa as well as Latin America
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Generic symptoms, headache fever and rash, so its often misdiagnosed. Adding to there is low knowledge of the infection.
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Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ot), is intrinsically resistant to frontline antibiotics, so if misdiagnosed, its unlikely to be cured by the treatment for other infections that show similar symptoms.
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Very susceptible to doxycycline, so a rapid scrub typhus test can would easily direct treatment
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No current diagnostic test, difficult to culture, is BSL3, takes 4 weeks to grow
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Serological assays have their limits
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PCR has low sensitivity
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Also the problem with treating with a broad spectrum antibiotics is contributing to antibiotic resistance.
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Looking to use highly sensitive human derived antibodies to detect Ot Antigens
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See if the isolated antibodies can detect ot spiked blood
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How is this different to PCR
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