Importance: Antibiotics have been used for many years to treat scrub typhus, but their efficacy and safety have not been studied thoroughly.
Objective: To compare and rank different antibiotics to identify which one can safely eliminate Orientia tsutsugamushi and efficiently alleviate fever in patients with scrub typhus.
Data sources: An electronic search of PubMed and Embase was conducted, from database inception to July 12, 2019. The study was conducted from July 12 to September 2, 2019.
Study selection: Randomized clinical trials and retrospective studies that evaluated the use of antibiotics for treatment in patients diagnosed with scrub typhus caused by O tsutsugamushi were included. Records of articles in English were considered eligible. Studies were assessed independently by 2 reviewers, with disagreement resolved by consensus. Of 6408 studies initially identified, 10 randomized clinical trials and 4 retrospective study met the criteria for further analysis.
Data extraction and synthesis: This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension statement for systematic reviews incorporating network meta-analyses of health care interventions. Data were independently extracted by 2 reviewers and synthesized with frequentist random-effects network meta-analyses.
Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcome was efficacy of the antibiotic, considered as the number of patients who achieved complete healing with an antibiotic. Safety, defined as the prevalence of adverse events associated with the antibiotics, was the secondary outcome, and defervescence time was the tertiary outcome. P scores (scale of 0 to 1, with 1 indicating superiority to other treatments) were used to rank the efficacy, safety, and defeverescence time of the antibiotics.
Results: Three searches for articles in Embase and PubMed identified 10 randomized clinical trials (888 participants) and 4 retrospective studies (323 participants) for further analyses. No particular treatment regimen showed a significant advantage or disadvantage with regard to efficacy or safety. However, meta-analysis of retrospective studies indicated that clarithromycin (P score = 0.8730) alleviated fever more efficiently than other antibiotics.
Conclusions and relevance: No treatment regimen reported in this network meta-analysis showed a significant advantage or disadvantage with regard to efficacy or safety. However, clarithromycin might be a better choice than the other drugs for alleviating fever.