In east China’s ShandongProvince, 13 people have died after contracting infections from tick bites. Since May 2008, 182 cases have been reported of HGA (human granulocytic anaplasmosis) according to the provincial Center for Disease Control who has been monitoring the disease.It was stated that many of the patients were bitten by hard ticks. Shandong is educating the public about this disease and training doctors for its treatment.
This is a rising problem in China and many other places have been experiencing deaths due to tick bites.This problem gained national attention after many cases of HGA was reported in central China’s HenanProvince.They have had 557 reported cases of HGA since May 2007 and 18 deaths have been reported. Also, in China’s coastal PenglaiCity, 26 cases of HGA were reported along with 6 deaths. Wang Shiwan of the ChineseCenter for Disease Control and Prevention stated that it was difficult to pinpoint the pathogen for the disease because it may be caused by a new virus.
HGA reduces white blood cell and platelet counts in the blood, which causes organ failure and death. The disease may cause people to have a fever and feel nauseous and in many cases the disease was misdiagnosed as a cold so many people were not treated properly at first. Most people infected are between the ages of 40 and 70 and the disease is curable if treated quickly.
This seems to be a growing epidemic in China. I was surprised to see how many cases had been reported in 3 years of a disease related to tick bites. In the United States, it is rare to hear of someone die over a tick bite.It is also a scary thing, because as mentioned in the article many of the cases were misdiagnosed. Ticks are so hard to detect. They could be left on someone for weeks if no one notices and since the symptoms are much like those of a common cold or stomach virus, it is difficult to find the culprit of the cause. This could be related to a new virus and hopefully researchers will find out what is causing this outbreak. I have heard of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever before due to ticks but not HGA and would like to know if there has been any other cases of the disease reported in other countries as well.
Wow thats a pretty scary thing going on in China. Several years ago my friend got really sick from a tick bite and had to be hospitalized for it. Tick bites are nothing to mess around with and people should take caution if they are ever bitten.
I had a tick bite once, but I didn't know it was there for days. Thankfully, I didn't get sick, but it tells me that it's very easy to come into contact with them and never know it. I think they definitely should educate the public about this growing issue. I also think anyone coming in for cold or virus- like symptons should be tested for HGA.
This is a very outrageous article. Ticks are so small they are very hard to detect. I can't believe there were so many cases. But being that there were so many cases this is definitely something you should be aware of and very cautious about.
3 comments:
Wow thats a pretty scary thing going on in China. Several years ago my friend got really sick from a tick bite and had to be hospitalized for it. Tick bites are nothing to mess around with and people should take caution if they are ever bitten.
I had a tick bite once, but I didn't know it was there for days. Thankfully, I didn't get sick, but it tells me that it's very easy to come into contact with them and never know it. I think they definitely should educate the public about this growing issue. I also think anyone coming in for cold or virus- like symptons should be tested for HGA.
This is a very outrageous article. Ticks are so small they are very hard to detect. I can't believe there were so many cases. But being that there were so many cases this is definitely something you should be aware of and very cautious about.
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