ABSTRACT
Objective To report the reduction of eosinophil in patients with scrub typhus.Methods The clinical features of 117 patients with scrub typhus from August 2012 to December 2012 were retrospectively analyzed.Another 60 healthy control subjects were chosen as healthy controls from Jieshou People's Hospital.The change of the eosinophil count or percentage was compared between patients and healthy control subjects.Statistical analyses were performed by t test and enumeration date was compared using x2 test.Results The incidence of eosinophil reduction (count or percentage) in patients with scrub typhus was 96.6％ (113/117),which accounted for the first place in various auxiliary examination.The incidence rate of eosinophil count or percentage reduction was 96.6 ％ (113/117) before treatment,with the eosinophil count of (0.016±0.009) × 109/L.The incidence rate in healthy control group was 8.3％ (5/60) with the count of (0.085± 0.025) × 109/L.The differences between the two groups were statistically different (x2 =138.990 4,P＜0.01 ;t=15.678 3,P＜0.01).A total of 65 patients examined blood routine after 4-9 days of treatment.After treatment,the incidence of eosinophil reduction in scrub typhus group was 23.1％,and the eosinophil count increase to (0.040±0.010) × 109/L.The difference reached statistical significance compared with the incidence rate and cell count pretreatment (x2 =108.191 2,P＜0.01 ;t=2.641 2,P＜0.05).Conclusion Reduction of eosinophils in patients with scrub typhus is an important clinical characteristics,which can be used as an important clue for the diagnosis of scrub typhus.