Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33784301›Full record

ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2021

Misdiagnosis of scrub typhus as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and potential co-infection of both diseases in patients in Shandong Province, China, 2013-2014.

Xiao-Lan Gu, Rui Qi, Wen-Qian Li, Yong-Jun Jiao, Hao Yu, Xue-Jie Yu

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. SFTSV infection in rodents and their ectoparasitic chiggers.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Xiao-Lan GuState Key Laboratory of Virology, School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Rui QiState Key Laboratory of Virology, School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Wen-Qian LiState Key Laboratory of Virology, School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Yong-Jun JiaoInstitute of Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Key Laboratory of Enteric Pathogenic Microbiology, Ministry Health, Nanjing, China.
Hao YuState Key Laboratory of Virology, School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.ORCID 0000-0002-2964-549X
Xue-Jie YuState Key Laboratory of Virology, School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.ORCID 0000-0003-2665-3811
Wuhan University · CNJiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundScrub typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, an obligate intracellular gram-negative bacterium, along with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), caused by hantaviruses, are natural-focus infectious diseases prevalent in Shandong Province, China. Both diseases have similar clinical manifestations in certain disease stages and similar epidemic seasons, which has caused difficulties for physicians in distinguishing them. The aim of this study was to investigate whether misdiagnosis of scrub typhus as HFRS occurred in patients in Shandong Province.

methodsSerum samples (N = 112) of clinically suspected HFRS patients from 2013 to 2014 in Shandong Province were analyzed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibodies to both hantavirus and Orientia tsutsugamushi.

resultsELISA showed that 56.3% (63/112) and 8.0% (9/112) of clinically suspected HFRS patients were IgM antibody positive to hantavirus and O. tsutsugamushi, respectively. Among the hantavirus IgM antibody positive patients, 7.9% (5/63) were also IgM antibody positive to O. tsutsugamushi. Among the hantavirus IgM antibody negative sera, 8.2% (4/49) of sera were positive to O. tsutsugamushi.

conclusionsWe concluded that some scrub typhus patients were misdiagnosed as HFRS and co-infection of scrub typhus and HFRS might exist in China. Due to the different treatments for scrub typhus and HFRS, physicians should carefully differentiate between scrub typhus and HFRS and consider administering anti-rickettsia antibiotics if treatment for HFRS alone does not work.

Indexed as

Diagnostic ErrorsAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAntibodies, BacterialAntibodies, ViralChinaCoinfectionDiagnosis, DifferentialEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayFemaleHemorrhagic Fever with Renal SyndromeHumansImmunoglobulin MMaleAntibodies, BacterialAntibodies, ViralImmunoglobulin M

Identifiers

PMID33784301
PMCPMC8009391
OpenAlexW3143392736

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.