Report points out that SP dentist died of Rocky Mountain spotted fever – 06/12/2023 – Health

The Secretary of State for Health of São Paulo confirmed on Monday night (12) that dentist Mariana Giordano, 36, died after contracting Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

She and her boyfriend, car racing driver and businessman Douglas Pereira Costa, 42, died last Thursday (8). There was suspicion of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, dengue or leptospirosis.

The three diseases are notifiable. Biological samples were analyzed by Instituto Adolfo Lutz, in São Paulo.

According to the state health department, the material collected from the pilot is still being analyzed, so the cause of death has not been confirmed.

On May 27, the couple was at Feijoada do Rosa, in Campinas (93 km from São Paulo). The following week, he traveled to Monte Verde.

The symptoms started on the 3rd of this month, a Saturday. On Sunday, when they returned, Mariana went to Hospital Vitória, in the city of São Paulo, where she lived. Douglas lived in Jundiaí (58 km from São Paulo).

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

The main symptoms of the disease are fever, severe headache, nausea and 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 and 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.

In addition to fever, the couple had pain and spots on the body. Businessman Marcelo Giordano, the dentist’s brother, said that she also complained of tiredness.

“On Sunday, she took a load of adrenaline and came back fine. On Monday, she went to the university to present a final paper on a course she was finishing. At night, she started to feel very bad. She was hospitalized. On Tuesday, they transferred her to the ICU. She died on Thursday. Douglas died at noon and she died at 4 pm”, reports the businessman.

“Douglas stayed at home during this period [em Jundiaí]. He didn’t go to the hospital until Wednesday. He was admitted, they took him to the ICU, at night they intubated him and on Thursday he died”, says Giordano.

According to the state secretariat, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, there are very few records given the urbanization of the area.

The municipalities of Campinas and Piracicaba are, today, the two with the highest number of recorded cases of the disease. In 2023, 9 cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and three deaths were recorded – the dentist’s case has not yet been officially computed.