New Delhi, March 13 -- A recent study has revealed that scrub typhus infection could be an "under-recognised" leading cause of hospitalisations for fever, accounting for almost 30 per cent of the cases.

The study, conducted by the Christian Medical College, Vellore, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), observed over 32,000 individuals from 37 rural areas in Tamil Nadu.

The scrub typhus infection is spread by the bite of an infected larval mite (chigger). Chiggers are found on grass, plant litter and bare soil across rural areas of Asia, and usually feed on small mammals such as rats and shrews.

Scrub typhus is caused by the bacterium 'Orientia tsutsugamushi', which belongs to the rickettsia family. Severe illness...