Acute kidney injury and electrolyte abnormalities in patients with scrub typhus admitted to a tertiary care hospital in southern India

INTRODUCTION: Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness that is seen in many parts of India. Acute kidney injury (AKI) can occur in patients with scrub typhus who are not diagnosed and treated in the early stage of the disease. Such patients can have associated electrolyte abnormalities also. OBJECTIVES: This study was done to find out the incidence of occurrence of AKI and electrolyte abnormalities among patients with scrub typhus and correlate the latter with the severity of AKI. METHODS: This prospective, observational study included 38 patients with scrub typhus admitted to a tertiary care hospital in south India. Serum sodium and serum potassium levels of all the patients were measured at hospital admission. Also, serum creatinine levels of patients on all days of the hospital stay was measured along with other parameters like hemoglobin, leucocyte count, and platelet count. RESULTS: The incidence of AKI among patients with scrub typhus was 13.16%. However, electrolyte abnormalities though seen in the patients did not correlate with AKI. CONCLUSION: AKI is not an uncommon phenomenon in patients with scrub typhus. Electrolyte abnormalities in these patients did not correlate with the severity of AKI.