The Isolation of Orientia tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia typhi from Human Blood through Mammalian Cell Culture: a Descriptive Series of 3,227 Samples and Outcomes in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Damien Ming, Vanheuang Phommadeechack, Phonepasith Panyanivong, Davanh Sengdatka, Weerawat Phuklia, Vilada Chansamouth, Tamalee Roberts, Stuart D. Blacksell, Paul N. Newton, Matthew T. Robinson
Abstract
In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), rickettsial infections, including scrub and murine typhus, account for a significant burden of fevers. The Mahosot Hospital Microbiology Laboratory in Vientiane, Laos, routinely performs rickettsial isolation from hospitalized patients with suspected rickettsioses using mammalian cell culture systems. We review the clinical and laboratory factors associated with successful Orientia tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia typhi isolations from this laboratory over a period of 6 years between 2008 and 2014.
Topics & Concepts
Orientia tsutsugamushiScrub typhusRickettsia typhiIsolation (microbiology)Murine typhusVirologyRickettsiaRickettsiosisBiologyMicrobiologyMedicineTyphusVirusVector-borne infectious diseasesLeptospirosis research and findingsMosquito-borne diseases and control