Scrub Typhus Presenting as Unilateral Abducens Nerve Palsy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Scrub typhus, an acute febrile infectious disease prevalent in the “Tsutsugamushi Triangle”, is a mite-born rickettsial zoonosis, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. Although the clinical presentation is protean, it rarely causes abducens nerve palsy. We report a 14-year-old previously healthy Indian girl who presented with a recent onset right abducens nerve palsy and headache, but without fever and without the classic dermatological manifestation (“eschar”) of the disease. After exclusion of common infectious, autoimmune, and neoplastic causes, she was finally diagnosed with scrub typhus associated with an abducens nerve palsy, which responded to doxycycline therapy.