The Health Bureau received a notification of a suspected case of Tsutsugamushi Disease, also known as Scrub Typhus. The patient was a 51-year-old male mainland employee who developed symptoms such as fever and generalized muscle pain on July 5. , Because the symptoms did not improve, he went to the emergency department of Jinghu Hospital in the middle of the night on July 12 and 13, respectively, and was admitted to the hospital on the 13th. The examination found a rash regarding the size of a soybean on the left groin. After treatment, on the 22nd The condition improved and he was discharged from the hospital. According to the symptoms, signs and effective treatment, the clinical diagnosis was scrub typhus. The patient is a slope protection engineer who has been working on the hillside near the Caltex gas station of Admiral Spartan in Taipa since June 24. He denied that his co-occupants and colleagues had similar symptoms.
Tsutsugamushi disease is an acute infectious disease caused by the bite of tsutsugamushi larvae with Rickettsia tsutsugamushi. Rodents (rats) that live in hot, humid, overgrown jungle areas are the most common reservoir hosts for Rickettsia tsutsugamushi. The tsutsugamushi can be infected when parasitic on rodents in the larval stage. If people are active in the jungle, they can be bitten by tsutsugamushi larvae with Rickettsia and become diseased. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, and skin rash, characterized by the formation of painless penetrating ulcerative eschars at the site of the tsutsugamushi bite; if left untreated, serious complications, including pneumonia, may occur in a minority of patients , encephalitis, myocarditis, resulting in respiratory failure, shock, and even death, the mortality rate can be as high as 60%. There is currently no vaccine to prevent it, but antibiotics can effectively treat it.
The Health Bureau urges members of the public to take the following measures to maintain good health in the countryside:
maintain good personal hygiene habits, including frequent bathing and changing clothes;
Frequently bathe and trim pets at home, and use flea combs to remove fleas, and regularly check pets’ bedding and deworming;
Eradicate weeds and reduce the habitat and density of tsutsugamushi;
In terms of personal protection, when traveling or working in the wild, try not to enter the grassy area; if you enter the dangerous area, you should wear protective clothing such as long sleeves, trousers, boots, gloves, etc.; apply DEET-containing mosquito repellent on clothing and exposed skin. agent to prevent tsutsugamushi bites;
Shower and change all clothes as soon as possible following leaving the susceptible area;
implement rodent eradication;
If you have a fever, seek medical attention as soon as possible. (Editorial Office)
” data-original-title=”Share this news”>Share
