Spotted fever: how not to get infected and avoid the tick – 06/15/2023 – É Logo Ali
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The recent deaths from Rocky Mountain spotted fever, confirmed in recent days, raised an alert among all those who love nature sports, especially those looking for mountains, trails and waterfalls throughout Brazil. Not because the disease and its carrier, the tick, are something unprecedented, but because the fact that three people were infected in a single place at an event held in the rural area of Campinas, just over an hour from São Paulo, It forces us to remember that this is indeed one of the most serious perrengue we have to face, and to which, in general, little importance is given. Big mistake.
To alert the unwary about the risks of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, the CAB (Clube Alpino Brasileiro) is carrying out an awareness campaign through its social networks, in order to alert mountaineers of the precautions that must be taken, as explained by Ariane Stackfleth, responsible for the social media content and club events. Detailed precautions will already be presented in basic mountaineering courses, which are free, on Behavior in the Mountain.
And it was to find out more about what it is and how to avoid Rocky Mountain spotted fever that the blog went to talk to Tânia Chaves, an infectologist and Consultant at the Brazilian Society of Infectology, who pointed out that, despite the coincidence of the three cases having occurred in the same place and period, one cannot speak of an outbreak or atypical expansion of the infection.
“According to the country’s epidemiological data in the period between 2007 and 2023, we did not observe an alarming increase in infections, which totaled 574 deaths in these 16 years”, she says, recalling that, “because it is a serious disease and compulsory notification, requires that we are all alert, especially travelers who practice ecological trails at this time of the year”.
She recalls that the disease has a higher incidence in the Southeast and South regions and that since the 1980s the first cases were described in the state of São Paulo, mainly in the regions of Campinas and Piracicaba. And that “it is more common between the months of May to June and October to November, the driest period in which young forms of the tick, known as micuins, which also transmit the disease, predominate”.
So, as this is precisely the time when mountaineers most come out of their holes in search of new horizons, the expert gives some basic advice that can be followed to avoid the risk of contamination as much as possible.
- Always wear long pants and blouses or shirts with long sleeves, preferably in light colors, to identify the tick more easily.
- Wear boots, and, if possible, tuck the bottoms of your pants inside your shoes. Sealing the hem of the pants with duct tape is also a good idea, as it hinders the tick’s journey through the traveler’s body, even if it doesn’t look so elegant in the photo for your social network. Health above all, combined?
- If possible, avoid walking through areas marked as having a tick incidence. “In general, areas are marked with warnings about the risk of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and the presence of ticks and animals involved in the transmission chain, especially dogs and capybaras (yes, those nice little animals that roam so freely even along the marginal streets of São Paulo ), but also oxen, horses, possums and poultry.
- Try, every two hours, to check whether a tick has bypassed your best efforts and settled on any part of the exposed skin (keeping in mind that not even the face is free from being attacked by this pest). “The faster it is removed, the lower the risk of infection to settle”, emphasizes the doctor.
- Use a repellent that has an active ingredient containing icaridin, applying it to the skin every four hours, depending on the concentration of the repellent. “Some have a long-lasting concentration, you have to check the packaging”, recalls Tânia.
But let’s assume that, even with all the precautions taken, the traveler detects the unwanted blood-sucking arachnid (seriously, look at the scientific description of the animal, if it’s not enough to scare you!) somewhere on his skin. Before panicking and pulling out the parasite anyway, it’s important to pay attention to a few more basic rules:
- Never crush the tick when removing it. In this process, there may be release of bacteria that have the ability to penetrate through small injuries to the skin, including the hole made by the little villain.
- Do not force the tick to detach by touching it with a needle or a hot match. The stress caused by this process, explains Tânia, “causes him to release a large amount of saliva, increasing the chances of transmission of the bacteria that cause the disease”.
- The tick must only be removed very carefully, with tweezers, making a slight twist so that the mouth releases the skin —after all, it is there in full taste of your blood, remember? After removal, it is important to wash the affected area with soap and water and sanitize the area with 70° alcohol. Let’s agree that it doesn’t cost that much to take a small bottle in the always mandatory first aid kit.
OK, but the traveler, despite all his care, let a little monster like that escape and became contaminated. How to identify the disease?
“The first symptoms of Rocky Mountain spotted fever are high fever for more than 24 hours, headaches and body aches that start suddenly, red spots on the body, very tired, weak, loss of appetite and diarrhea”, says the infectologist. As not all symptoms appear always and at the same time, the best guideline is: when one of them appears out of nowhere, and considering that the incubation period of the disease is from 2 to 14 days, it does not hurt to visit the health center more next and check if everything is in order.
And since we’re talking about health, it doesn’t hurt to repeat a warning that the infectologist makes a point of leaving for every traveler —whether he’s a hiker or just a weekend tourist: “It’s important to always have your vaccinations up to date, such as yellow fever , endemic in several regions”. In addition to this, anti-tetanus also helps to avoid serious problems when tripping over that rusty barbed wire hidden in the middle of the vegetation. In addition to these, the flu vaccine and the infamous Covid vaccine are also valuable allies that help to avoid losing valuable days of the mountain season. Because it is well known that these diseases have the terrible gift of always appearing at the worst moments, which could be enjoyed much better than sniffling on the sofa at home, in front of a very boring streaming series, right? So, let’s update the card, Zé Gotinha is waiting for us!
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