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Comprehensive Laboratory Analysis of a Scrub Typhus and H1N1 Influenza Co-Infection: A Case Report from Hainan, China

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Co-infection of Orientia tsutsugamushi and influenza A virus complicates diagnosis and treatment in endemic regions because of overlapping clinical features and potential synergistic inflammation. We describe a 68-year-old woman from Hainan, China, who presented with five days of high fever (39.2 °C), nonproductive cough, eschar formation, lymphadenopathy, cytopenias, elevated liver enzymes, and raised inflammatory markers. On the day of admission, influenza A was confirmed by rapid antigen test and Orientia tsutsugamushi IgM/IgG was detected via colloidal-gold immunochromatography, prompting concurrent oseltamivir and doxycycline therapy. Quantitative PCR on day 2 measured an Orientia tsutsugamushi load of 2.85 × 104 copies/mL (Cq 28.86), and targeted next-generation sequencing on day 3 revealed a high H1N1pdm09 viral burden (>1 × 106 copies/mL) with low-level human herpesvirus 1 co-detection. Nested PCR and Sanger sequencing assigned Orientia tsutsugamushi to the Karp_A lineage and influenza A to clade 6B.1A.5a.2a. The patient defervesced by hospital day 2, laboratory indices normalized by day 3, and radiographic abnormalities resolved by day 6. This first documented Orientia tsutsugamushi–influenza A co-infection in China highlights the value of integrating rapid serology, qPCR quantification, nested PCR genotyping, and tNGS for early, precise dual-pathogen identification. Systematic multi-pathogen screening during overlapping transmission seasons is recommended to guide timely combination therapy and enhance epidemiological surveillance.

Source: Pathogens

DOI: 10.3390/pathogens14080810