Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Neurology
Published in: BMC Neurology 1/2024

Open Access 01-12-2024 | Typhoid Fever | Case Report

Guillain–Barre syndrome following scrub typhus: a case report and literature review

Authors: Shijun Hu, Zhichuan lin, Tao Liu, Shixiong Huang, Hui Liang

Published in: BMC Neurology | Issue 1/2024

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Scrub typhus is an acute infectious disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune-mediated peripheral neuropathy with a frequent history of prodromal infections, but GBS associated with scrub typhus is very rare.

Case presentation

We report a 51-year-old male patient who developed dysarthria and peripheral facial paralysis following the cure of scfrub typhus. CSF examination and electrophysiological findings suggested a diagnosis of GBS. After treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, the patient’s neurological condition improved rapidly.

Conclusions

Scrub typhus infection is likely to be a potential predisposing factor in GBS, while scrub typhus-associated GBS has a favorable prognosis.
Literature
1.
Musa TH, Ahmad T, Wana MN, Li W, Musa HH, Sharun K, et al. The epidemiology, diagnosis and management of scrub typhus disease in China. Hum Vaccines Immunother. 2021;17:3795–805.CrossRef
2.
Papri N, Islam Z, Leonhard SE, Mohammad QD, Endtz HP, Jacobs BC. Guillain-Barre syndrome in low-income and middle-income countries: challenges and prospects. Nat Rev Neurol. 2021;17:285–96.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
3.
Meehan GR, McGonigal R, Cunningham ME, Wang Y, Barrie JA, Halstead SK, et al. Differential binding patterns of anti-sulfatide antibodies to glial membranes. J Neuroimmunol. 2018;323:28–35.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
4.
Rinaldi S, Brennan KM, Kalna G, Walgaard C, van Doorn P, Jacobs BC, et al. Antibodies to heteromeric glycolipid complexes in Guillain-Barre syndrome. PLoS ONE. 2013;8:e82337.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
5.
Dabby R, Weimer LH, Hays AP, Olarte M, Latov N. Antisulfatide antibodies in neuropathy: clinical and electrophysiologic correlates. Neurology. 2000;54:1448–52.CrossRefPubMed
6.
Campagnolo M, Ferrari S, Dalla Torre C, Cabrini I, Cacciavillani M, Lucchetta M, et al. Polyneuropathy with anti-sulfatide and anti-MAG antibodies: clinical, neurophysiological, pathological features and response to treatment. J Neuroimmunol. 2015;281:1–4.CrossRefPubMed
7.
8.
Rana A, Mahajan SK, Sharma A, Sharma S, Verma BS, Sharma A. Neurological manifestations of scrub typhus in adults. Trop Doct. 2017;47:22–5.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Misra UK, Kalita J, Mani VE. Neurological manifestations of scrub typhus. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2014;86:761–6.CrossRefPubMed
10.
11.
Lee SH, Jung SI, Park KH, Choi SM, Park MS, Kim BC, et al. Guillain-Barre syndrome associated with scrub typhus. Scand J Infect Dis. 2007;39:826–8.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Lee MS, Lee JH, Lee HS, Chang H, Kim YS, Cho KH, et al. Scrub typhus as a possible aetiology of Guillain-Barre syndrome: two cases. Ir J Med Sci. 2009;178:347–50.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Ju IN, Lee JW, Cho SY, Ryu SJ, Kim YJ, Kim SI, et al. Two cases of scrub typhus presenting with Guillain-Barre syndrome with respiratory failure. Korean J Intern Med. 2011;26:474–6.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
14.
Sawale VM, Upreti S, Singh TS, Singh NB, Singh TB. A rare case of Guillain-Barre syndrome following scrub typhus. Neurol India. 2014;62:82–3.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Kim KW, Kim YH, Kim BH, Lee CY, Oh MS, Yu KH, et al. Miller Fisher syndrome related to orientia tsutsugamushi infection. J Clin Neurosci. 2014;21:2251–2.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Gangula RS, Stanley W, Vandanapu A, Prabhu MM. Guillain-Barre syndrome with falciparum malaria and scrub typhus mixed infection-an unusual combination. J Clin Diagn Res. 2017;11:OD10–1.PubMedPubMedCentral
17.
Dev N, Kumar R, Kumar D. Guillain–Barre syndrome: a rare complication of leptospirosis and scrub typhus co-infection. Trop Doct. 2019;49:248–9.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Juneja A, Anand K, Shah M. Guillain–Barre syndrome: a rare occurrence following scrub typhus. Niger J Med. 2020;29:337–8.CrossRef
19.
Sakai K, Ishii N, Ebihara Y, Mochizuki H, Shiomi K, Nakazato M. Guillan-Barre syndrome following scrub typus: two case reports. Rinsho Shinkeigaku. 2016;56:577–9.CrossRefPubMed
20.
21.
Sejvar JJ, Kohl KS, Gidudu J, Amato A, Bakshi N, Baxter R, et al. Guillain-Barre syndrome and Fisher syndrome: case definitions and guidelines for collection, analysis, and presentation of immunization safety data. Vaccine. 2011;29:599–612.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Cutillo G, Saariaho AH, Meri S. Physiology of gangliosides and the role of antiganglioside antibodies in human diseases. Cell Mol Immunol. 2020;17:313–22.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
23.
Koga M, Takahashi M, Yokoyama K, Kanda T. Ambiguous value of anti-ganglioside IgM autoantibodies in Guillain-Barre syndrome and its variants. J Neurol. 2015;262:1954–60.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Raghunathan V, Dhaliwal M, Singhi P, Singhi S. Scrub typhus associated with guillain-barre syndrome (GBS). Indian J Pediatr. 2022;89:1129–30.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Modi T, Sood T, Moudgil S, Arora NAO. Neurological manifestations of scrub typhus: encephalitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). BMJ Case Rep. 2023;16:e253350.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Guillain–Barre syndrome following scrub typhus: a case report and literature review
Authors
Shijun Hu
Zhichuan lin
Tao Liu
Shixiong Huang
Hui Liang
Publication date
01-12-2024
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Neurology / Issue 1/2024
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2377
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-024-03645-9

Other articles of this Issue 1/2024

BMC Neurology 1/2024 Go to the issue

Research

Assessing the impact of migraine on benign paroxysmal positional vertigo symptoms and recovery

Research

Dilated perivascular spaces and steno-occlusive changes in children and adults with moyamoya disease

Research

The clinical and neuroimaging differences between vascular parkinsonism and Parkinson’s disease: a case-control study

Research

Single-cell RNA sequencing of anaplastic ependymoma and H3K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma

Case Report

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in a patient with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia after COVID-19 vaccination, complicated with COVID-19 and mucormycosis: a case report

Research

Red cell distribution width to lymphocyte ratio could serve as a new inflammatory biomarker for predicting hematoma expansion in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage