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September 1,2021

Andrew Campbell 

Hundreds of children in India have recently become ill or died as a result of what some news are calling a mysterious fever, which reveals the same information as a diagnosis of an enlarged spleen. Many of them complained about joint pain, headaches, dehydration, and nausea. In some cases, they reported rashes spreading across the legs and arms. At least 50 people have died as a result of the fever, the majority of whom were children, and hundreds have been admitted to hospitals in six districts of Uttar Pradesh. However, COVID-19 was not discovered in any of the dead.

According to reports, Scrub Typhus, a new mystery fever, has been diagnosed in a large number of children in Mathura, Western Uttar Pradesh. According to Mathura's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Rachna Gupta, there are twenty-six sick children in Koh village, three in Piproth, fourteen in Ral, and seventeen in Jasoda. So far, ten people have died in the region, including eight children. Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, and Kasganj are among the districts in Western Uttar Pradesh where infections and deaths have been reported. Meanwhile, medical teams are gathering samples from these locations.

Scrub typhus, also known as shrub typhus, is caused by a bacterium called Orientia Tsutsugamushi, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People become infected after being bitten by infected chiggers (larval mites). Fever, runny nose, headache, body and muscle aches, mood swings, enlarged lymph nodes, and rashes are common symptoms that appear within ten days of the bite.

On the other hand, Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection, is suspected to be the leading cause of death in a few of the affected districts, including Agra, Etah, Firozabad, Kasganj, Mainpuri and Mathura, according to some doctors. They claim that many of the patients were admitted to the hospital with a low platelet count, a blood component that aids in the formation of clots and is associated with a severe form of dengue.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's unclear whether the latest fever-related deaths in Uttar Pradesh are the result of a Scrub Typhus or Dengue outbreak. More research and genome analysis, hopefully, will reveal the cause of the mystery fevers that are afflicting children in India.