A 46-year-old woman of Hamirpur has died of scrub typhus, taking the death toll due to the disease this year to 10 in IGMC, officials said on October 30.



The woman died on October 29 at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, IGMC senior Medical Superintendent Dr Janak Raj said. She was admitted in the IGMC on October 23, he said. The number of deaths due to scrub typhus in IGMC this year has now reached 10, he added.

However, the official said the number of deaths are half this year as compared to the last year. Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi, experts say. Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body aches, and sometimes rashes, they add.