THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 15-year-old girl died of scrubs typhus, a fever caused by larval mites, at Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram. Ashwathy, a class X student, and daughter of Shaji Das and Anitha, died on Wednesday evening. She was undergoing treatment at government medical college, Paripally. Health Minister Veena George has deputed a medical team to visit the victim’s native place in Cherunniyoor and the hospital. The health department has taken steps to destroy the mite population in the locality.
Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites) found in squirrels, rats and rabbits. The disease is caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi carried by the chiggers. The chiggers from the animals get attached to grasses and the bacteria find its way to the human body through chigger bites.
The health department has advised people to cover their body when playing or working in sand. The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body aches, and sometimes rash. The disease becomes complicated in some people when it affects their brain and heart. Scrub typhus has similar symptoms as that of typhoid, rat fever and dengue. The disease can be treated with antibiotics.