Results
In two years, from January 2019 to December 2020, a total of 922 tests to scrub typhus were advised in three health centres in Zhemgang District. The maximum age prescribed to the test was 94-year-old man in Panbang Hospital while the minimum age prescribed to the test was 1 month old also prescribed in Panbang Hospital. The test results for both of these cases were negative. The mean age for the tests prescribed in all the three health centres combined was 36.1±17.9 for both the genders.The mean age for women were slightly higher (37.03± 19.93) compared to men (35.06 ± 19.5).
Of 922 samples tested, 49 % (n=452) were male while 51% (n=470) were female. Of the total tests prescribed, 446 tests were prescribed in Yebilaptsa Hospital, 324 were prescribed in Panbang Hospital and 152 were tested in Zhemgang Hospital. 62.3% of the tests were carried out in 2019 which has drastically reduced the prescription by 2020 accounting to only 37.7%. The months of June, July, August and September saw the highest tests being prescribed while the months of December, January and February wereobserved with least number of tests prescribed. Of the total tests prescribed, only 8.2% (n=76) were confirmed to be positive. The descriptive summaries of the tests to the scrub typhus for the two years are described in table 1.
Table 1Scrub Typhus Tests in Zhemgang District, as described by individual variables in 2019 – 2020