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Tick deaths still mystify experts
By Li Xinran |
September 11, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
EXPERTS have yet to determine the type of pathogen carried by ticks that have killed at least 31 people in two Chinese provinces, health officials said yesterday.
The number includes 13 people in east China's Shandong Province, up from three dead reported on Wednesday.
Another 18 people died in the central Henan Province, the provincial Center for Disease Control said this week.
China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention temporarily has named the disease "fever-thrombocytopenia syndrome," but said much about it is unknown, including the exact pathogen that is making people sick, Li Dexin, a CDC virus chief, told a press conference.
Ticks can carry 83 viruses, 14 kinds of bacteria, 17 types of borrelia recurrentis and 32 protozoa, Li added.
The 13 victims in Shandong are among 82 reported cases of human granulocytic anaplasmosis in the province since May 2008, when the provincial CDC started monitoring the disease. Many of the patients were bitten by hard ticks, according to a statement from Shandong's health department.
Twenty-six of the HGA cases, including six deaths, were reported in coastal Penglai City.
Shandong is educating the public about the disease and training doctors in its treatment, it said.
The 18 deaths in Henan were among 557 reported cases of suspected HGA in the central province since May 2007. Most of the cases were found in Xinyang's Shangcheng and Guangshan counties and Shihe and Pingqiao districts.
Three experts have been sent by the Ministry of Health to look into the outbreak in Shangcheng County.
HGA reduces white blood cell and platelet counts in the blood, possibly leading to organ failure and death. The disease can cause people to feel nauseous and have a fever.
It is curable if treated quickly.
"The disease was, in many cases, misdiagnosed as cold, so many patients were not treated properly at first," said Cui Ning, a doctor who spoke to Xinhua news agency.
The number includes 13 people in east China's Shandong Province, up from three dead reported on Wednesday.
Another 18 people died in the central Henan Province, the provincial Center for Disease Control said this week.
China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention temporarily has named the disease "fever-thrombocytopenia syndrome," but said much about it is unknown, including the exact pathogen that is making people sick, Li Dexin, a CDC virus chief, told a press conference.
Ticks can carry 83 viruses, 14 kinds of bacteria, 17 types of borrelia recurrentis and 32 protozoa, Li added.
The 13 victims in Shandong are among 82 reported cases of human granulocytic anaplasmosis in the province since May 2008, when the provincial CDC started monitoring the disease. Many of the patients were bitten by hard ticks, according to a statement from Shandong's health department.
Twenty-six of the HGA cases, including six deaths, were reported in coastal Penglai City.
Shandong is educating the public about the disease and training doctors in its treatment, it said.
The 18 deaths in Henan were among 557 reported cases of suspected HGA in the central province since May 2007. Most of the cases were found in Xinyang's Shangcheng and Guangshan counties and Shihe and Pingqiao districts.
Three experts have been sent by the Ministry of Health to look into the outbreak in Shangcheng County.
HGA reduces white blood cell and platelet counts in the blood, possibly leading to organ failure and death. The disease can cause people to feel nauseous and have a fever.
It is curable if treated quickly.
"The disease was, in many cases, misdiagnosed as cold, so many patients were not treated properly at first," said Cui Ning, a doctor who spoke to Xinhua news agency.
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