Report confirms that pilot also died of Rocky Mountain spotted fever – 06/13/2023 – Health

The Adolfo Lutz Institute confirmed this Tuesday (13) that Rocky Mountain spotted fever was the cause of death of motor racing driver and businessman Douglas Pereira Costa, 42, a resident of Jundiaí (58 km from SP).

The information was disclosed by the municipality’s Epidemiological Surveillance, which said it had received confirmation of the diagnosis from the institute linked to the Government of São Paulo.

On the night of this Monday (12), the state agency had already confirmed the same cause for the death of his girlfriend, dentist Mariana Gioardano, 36.

The case of a 28-year-old woman who lives in Hortolândia (109 km from SP) is also being investigated.

The three died on the same day, last Thursday (8), and attended an event at Fazenda Santa Margarida, in Joaquim Egídio, a neighborhood in Campinas and the likely site of the infection.

Initial suspicions were Rocky Mountain spotted fever, dengue or leptospirosis.

The Seo Rosa restaurant, responsible for the event at the farm in Campinas, said it heard about the “fatality”, but that “it is not confirmed that they caught the tick on the spot”.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium of the Rickettsia genus, transmitted through the bite of one of the tick species —that is, it is not transmitted directly from person to person and its symptoms can be easily confused with other diseases that cause high fever, says the Secretary of State for Health, in a note.

The main symptoms of the disease are fever, severe headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal and muscle pain, swelling and redness on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, gangrene of the fingers and ears, and paralysis of the limbs. It can be mild or severe, with a high fatality rate.

In Brazil, the main vector is the star tick, but any species can harbor the bacteria that cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever, such as the dog tick, according to the Ministry of Health.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is curable, but treatment needs to be started early with appropriate antibiotics.

Also according to the Department of Health, with the confirmation of the new victim, São Paulo has five deaths caused by spotted fever — out of a total of nine cases registered, all in the countryside.

According to government minister Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), in the capital of São Paulo and in the metropolitan region of São Paulo there are very few records of the disease, given the urbanization of the area.

In the interior of the state, says the organ, the disease began to be detected from the 1980s onwards, in the regions of Campinas, Piracicaba and Assis, and in the most peripheral areas of the metropolitan region of São Paulo and on the coast, but in a version milder.

“The municipalities of Campinas and Piracicaba are, today, the two with the highest number of registered cases of the disease”, he says.

In a note, the City Hall of Campinas says that, immediately after being notified of the cases, this Monday, Devisa (Department of Health Surveillance) triggered a series of prevention, information and mobilization actions against spotted fever at Santa Margarida Farm. The district of Joaquim Egídio is mapped as a risk area for the disease.

Those responsible for the farm were notified about the importance of signaling regarding the risks. This information is essential for people to adopt safe behaviors when visiting these spaces and also so that, after the visit, if they show signs and symptoms, they can inform the doctor and facilitate the diagnosis. In the coming days, technicians from Devisa will carry out a survey to check the tick infestation (acarological survey) in the space.

The City Hall also says that it has reinforced communication, information and mobilization actions against Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the city’s parks.