Die from a tick bite, remember after being bitten
On July 3rd, China Jiangsu Network reported that summer is here, and more and more people are outdoors. When traveling, they often choose shady places with more trees and grass to avoid the sun. However, when playing outside or engaging in farming outdoor activities, they should be vigilant for ticks that can cause disease or even endanger life.
Recently, Mr. Song (surname changed), who lives near the Tieshan Temple in Xuyi, Jiangsu Province, has a lot of misfortunes. First, at the end of May and the beginning of June, his brother-in-law and mother-in-law were bitten by ticks and died of serious illness because of the delay in diagnosis in the local hospital. Multiple organ failure caused the whole family to be immersed in great sadness. But who knew that during Mr. Song's funeral for his mother-in-law, his naked right forearm was accidentally bitten by a tick, which made him go to hell. Under the hospital treatment, Mr. Song was out of danger.
tick
Why do ticks get sick after a bite?
What exactly is a little tick? How can a bite still be fatal? It turns out that there is a terrible virus in the tick, called fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (also known as the new Bunia virus), which can be transmitted to people through tick bites, causing fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome. It is worth mentioning that this disease was first discovered in China.
At present, the epidemic of fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in China is mainly distributed in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Shandong, Hubei, Hebei, Liaoning and other provinces. Of course, it is mainly concentrated in the rural areas of mountainous, hilly and forested areas of the above provinces, and the people who develop the disease are mainly people who often work outdoors or are keen on outdoor sports. In addition to China, there are also many case reports in neighboring countries and regions such as Japan, South Korea, and North Korea. Most of the 160 patients with fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome who have been treated in this hospital are from rural areas at the junction of Jiangsu and Anhui, such as Xuyi, Chuzhou, and Mingguang.
The scar left by Mr. Song after he was bitten by a tick
A major feature of fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome is its seasonal onset. Most of the onset seasons are in May-November, with May-July as the main peak period and September as the second peak period. There may be slight differences in different regions. The reason is that ticks will grow, multiply and move in the wild environment in this season range. Similarly, this is related to the fact that the population will also widely carry out productive labor and outdoor activities in this season. Since April this year, the hospital's infectious disease department has treated 17 patients with fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome. Two of them died because they arrived too late and were too sick.
After being bitten by a tick, the disease can develop after 2 days to 1 month
According to the doctor, after being bitten by a tick, the person will develop the disease in 2-3 days at the shortest, and it will also develop in about 1 month, usually about 1-2 weeks. Once the fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome begins, the most typical course of the disease can be divided into three main processes: fever, multi-organ failure, and recovery. Most people will show acute fever, body temperature is generally above 38.0 ° C, accompanied by chills, loss of appetite, fatigue, muscle soreness, early nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms, some patients have bleeding tendencies, manifested as skin petechiae, gingival bleeding, bulbar conjunctiva hemorrhage, a few patients are in critical condition, may have disorders of consciousness, pulmonary bleeding, cerebral hemorrhage, gastrointestinal bleeding, etc., can be due to shock, respiratory failure, disseminated intravascular coagulation and other multi-organ failure and death. Severe patients are mostly combined with neurological and psychiatric symptoms, and the prognosis is poor.
The fatality rate of the disease is 12.7% -32.6%, and there is no effective treatment method at present, only symptomatic supportive treatment. Elderly patients, those with underlying diseases, and those who cannot be treated are often seriously ill after arriving at the hospital, and the prognosis is poor. However, most patients generally have a good prognosis after early, timely and active treatment. A few patients may leave behind neurological sequelae. Wu Weihua reminded that if you have a fever after being bitten by a tick, please seek medical attention in time.
How to prevent tick bites during high season?
First of all, you should try to avoid sitting and lying in the main habitat of ticks such as grass, woods and other environments for a long time. If you need to enter such areas, you should pay attention to personal protection and promote the wearing of long-sleeved clothes; do not wear sandals; tie trouser legs tightly or tuck trouser legs into socks or shoes; wear light-colored clothes to make it easy to find whether there are ticks climbing up; the surface of knitted clothes should be as smooth as possible, so that ticks are not easy to adhere; after daily tourism activities, tourists should carefully check their bodies and clothes to see if any ticks have bitten or climbed up, and remove them immediately after finding ticks. When it is necessary to work in the field or camping, camping equipment such as clothes and tents can be soaked with pesticides, such as permethrin, DEET-containing repellents, etc.
It is worth noting that the fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus was detected in the urine, feces, and saliva of patients with fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome. Close contact with the patient's blood, feces, and secretions can lead to infection. Family members, especially those who accompany them, should pay attention to self-protection. When contacting patients, pay attention to protective facilities and avoid contact with the patient's blood and body fluids or vomit. Because, in addition to tick bites that can infect the virus, normal people can also be infected through contact with the patient's blood, body fluids, secretions, or vomit. In recent years, our hospital has found and confirmed a number of cases of infection caused by family members caring for patients. Therefore, unlike other insect-borne diseases, fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus can be transmitted from person to person. It is very important to understand this, especially for the family members of those who are already sick, and they need to be vigilant to prevent the disease from occurring when caring for the sick. Recommended reading:How can you tell if you've been bitten by a tick?
