Infection of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus as a Cause of a Child’s Fever of Unknown Origin: A Case Report

Abstract

Background

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne disease resulted from SFTSV. It is found in Japan, South Korea, Central, and Eastern China. With the increasing prevalence of SFTS and the rapid spread of the SFTS virus (SFTSV) vector, it is obvious that this virus has pandemic potential and poses an imminent public health concern.

Case Presentation

We depict SFTS in a child from Anhui Province and conduct a review of all reported pediatric cases in China, which is an endemic area for SFTS. From 2011 to 2021, ten SFTS pediatric cases confirmed by RT-PCR were reported, with no child dying. Although SFTS cases in adolescents and children are uncommon, the reported literature showed that clinical symptoms in adolescents and children were milder than in adults.

Conclusion

To better understand this emerging disease, we described the clinical and epidemiological attributes of SFTS. We suggest that the possibility of SFTSV infection in children with seasonal and virus-related acute febrile diseases should be considered in major endemic areas.

Keywords:

• SFTS
• infection
• children
• Bunyaviridae virus
• Dabie bandavirus

Ethical Approval

This study was performed with the approval of the ethics committee of First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University. All human research was carried out in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from parent prior to manuscript submission for their personal or clinical details to be published in this study.

Acknowledgments

We thank the anonymous reviewers for constructive comments. We are very grateful to the doctors of department of Infectious Diseases at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This study had no funding.