"There are many cases of hemorrhagic fever patients in Xi'an" "Xi'an debunks rumors that eating strawberries causes hemorrhagic fever"...
Recently, the new crown epidemic in Xi'an has not yet ended, and an infectious disease called hemorrhagic fever has appeared in Xi'an. There are rumors online that the spread of the disease is linked to local strawberries contaminated with rats. At present, the local agricultural department in Xi'an has debunked rumors, pointing out that strawberries and hemorrhagic fever are not necessarily linked. What kind of infectious disease is hemorrhagic fever? What causes hemorrhagic fever? Does hemorrhagic fever spread from person to person? Let's take a look
Image from IC photo
Coop
What is hemorrhagic fever?
On March 23, 2020, in Ankang, Shaanxi Province, a migrant worker was on his way back to work when he died of a hantavirus infection, which caused concern. Animation science is what is hemorrhagic fever.
Produced by Beijing News
Renal syndrome hemorrhagic fever, also known as epidemic hemorrhagic fever, is a natural pathogenic disease caused by hantavirus, with rodents (haddock rats and brown rats) as the main source of infection, and is a class B infectious disease with AIDS, viral hepatitis, poliomyelitis and so on. If a rat bites, or eats food and water that the rat crawls on, or comes into contact with the blood, urine, and feces of the mouse with the virus, it is possible to infect hemorrhagic fever. The population is generally susceptible and has a high incidence among groups such as farmers who often work in the field, or workers and students engaged in agricultural industries and food processing. There is a peak of incidence every eight to ten years, which can occur in all seasons of the year, two peaks of incidence every year, and a large peak will appear from October to January of the following year, called autumn and winter peak; From April to June (or may to July), there is also a small peak called Spring Peak.
Source: Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Some experts said that there is a certain case fatality rate in patients with acute onset, rapid progression and severe disease, but from the data in recent years, the overall case fatality rate is not high. According to the data released by the National Health Commission, in 2020, the incidence of epidemic haemorrhagic fever in the country was 8121 cases, 48 deaths, and the mortality rate was 0.0034 (about 1/200), so in general, hemorrhagic fever is not a disease with a high case fatality rate.
What are the manifestations of hemorrhagic fever?
Image from Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Epidemic haemorrhagic fever can be transmitted by five routes: respiratory transmission, gastrointestinal transmission, contact transmission, mother-to-child transmission and mite transmission.
Hemorrhagic fever is inconsistent due to the type of infection, the type of virus, and the region of onset, resulting in inconsistencies in severity, duration, and clinical type. The general clinical practice is divided into five stages, namely fever, hypotensive shock, oliguria, polyuria, and recovery. The incubation period is generally 7-14 days, more than two weeks, most of the onset is abrupt, there are no prodromal symptoms, and a few patients have a slightly slower onset of the disease, with gastrointestinal symptoms or upper respiratory tract infections. Clinical manifestations are characterized by fever, shock, congestion, bleeding, and acute renal failure.
Jia Zhansheng, director of the Infectious Liver Disease Center of Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital, introduced that hemorrhagic fever is clinically characterized by fever, bleeding and kidney damage, and serious ones may lead to death. In the early stage of the disease, hemorrhagic fever will have symptoms such as "three pains" (headache, low back pain, orbital pain) and "three redness" (redness of the face, neck and upper chest), which are very similar to influenza, so it is easy to be aggravated by misdiagnosis and mistreatment, self-medication and delay in taking medication. Experts remind that the treatment of hemorrhagic fever must be detected early, early rest, early treatment, and the nearest normative medical institution for treatment.
What should I do if I have hemorrhagic fever?
The treatment of hemorrhagic fever emphasizes "three early and one", which can significantly reduce the case fatality rate. That is, early detection: if a suspected case is found, it is necessary to go to a regular hospital as soon as possible; Early rest: bed rest immediately after the onset of the disease, reduced activity; Early treatment: early treatment and prophylactic treatment are decisive factors in the prognosis of the disease; Treatment at the nearest normative medical institution: Treatment at the nearest place to avoid long-distance transfer to aggravate the condition.
In addition, the key to the prevention and treatment of epidemic haemorrhagic fever includes three aspects:
Anti-rat extermination is the leading measure, anti-rat is to cut off the transmission route, and rat extermination is to eliminate the source of infection.
Vaccination is effective in preventing epidemic haemorrhagic fever and is the most effective way for individuals to prevent viral haemorrhagic fever, and populations in endemic areas should be vaccinated.
Patient treatment should be "three early and one", that is, early detection, early rest, early treatment, and treatment at the nearest normative medical institution, which can significantly reduce the case fatality rate.
Debunking rumors
Strawberries and hemorrhagic fever are not necessarily linked
It is understood that since the first case of hemorrhagic fever was detected in Xi'an, it has always been a peak city for the incidence of hemorrhagic fever. Why Xi'an? According to the "Shaanxi Disease Control" public account, due to the comprehensive effect of climate, terrain, rivers, vegetation and other factors in the Guanzhong area of Shaanxi Province, haddock rats are more common, and the rate of haddock rats carrying hantavirus in the wild is higher. Together, the number of cases reported annually in Xi'an, Weinan, Xianyang, Baoji and Yangling demonstration areas in Guanzhong accounts for about 95% of the total number of cases in the province. Although hemorrhagic fever can occur in all four seasons, there is a more obvious peak season, and October to March of the following year is the high incidence season of hemorrhagic fever in Shaanxi Province.
The picture is from the WeChat public account of Shaanxi Disease Control
Recently, there have been cases of hemorrhagic fever in many hospitals in Xi'an, and many netizens have targeted the local greenhouse strawberries, believing that strawberries are contaminated by rats, resulting in people being infected with hemorrhagic fever virus after eating. The saying was once rumored to be "eating strawberries will cause bleeding fever".
The local agricultural department in Xi'an responded to the media, pointing out that the online rumor that "eating strawberries will get bleeding fever" is a rumor, and there is no necessary connection between strawberries and hemorrhagic fever. The Chang'an District Agricultural Inspection Center has conducted irregular inspections of strawberry producers in the whole district and conducted sampling tests on strawberries to prevent pesticide residues from exceeding the standard. Some experts remind that as long as you avoid contact with rats and the food that rats crawl over, kill rats frequently, pay attention to personal and environmental hygiene, you can prevent hemorrhagic fever through daily measures.
On December 20, some experts in immunology told the Beijing News reporter that if strawberries are indeed contaminated by mice carrying hantavirus, and they are not thoroughly cleaned and eaten directly, it is possible to infect bleeding fever, but this probability is very small, and usually eat strawberries to pay attention to cleaning and disinfection. Food safety expert Yun Wuxin also said that the statement that "eating strawberries will cause bleeding fever" is somewhat far-fetched.
At present, it is the winter greenhouse strawberry market period, according to the Beijing News reporter, due to rumors, some strawberry growers in Xi'an have been affected.
A merchant who runs a strawberry cherry picking garden in the Bailuyuan area of Xi'an told the Beijing News reporter that affected by the rumor, the strawberries it sells are not bought, and no one in the strawberry garden is picking, and the strawberries in this period are rotten in the ground. "It's had a big impact on my business, how can there be rats in the greenhouse." Read more "Eating strawberries to get bleeding fever is confirmed to be a rumor, there are strawberry merchants sales affected"
Hot ask
Q: Who is susceptible to infection?
A: Everyone can be infected with epidemic haemorrhagic fever-related viruses, but the onset of the disease mainly depends on the life and work habits of people and animals. If toxic rodents inhabit mainly farmland, human infection is mainly related to agricultural activities; If the venomous rodents inhabit a person's home or other buildings, the infection occurs mainly in the home environment. Improving personal protection awareness and doing a good job of personal protection can significantly reduce the incidence of personal protection.
Q: Does human-to-human transmission transmit hemorrhagic fever?
A: Although hemorrhagic fever is an infectious disease, it is mainly transmitted to people by rats, and people are not the source of infection, so hemorrhagic fever is not transmitted between people and people.
Q: Is there a vaccine that can be prevented?
A: Epidemic haemorrhagic fever vaccines in China have been on the market for many years, and vaccination is the most effective measure for individuals to prevent epidemic haemorrhagic fevers. Since 2008, China has included epidemic hemorrhagic fever immunization into the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), with high-incidence townships in high-incidence provinces as the target population, and routine immunization of people aged 16-60 years. Activities such as field expeditions, tourism, farming, etc. in endemic areas, or before longer outdoor work tasks in the wild, can be vaccinated against epidemic haemorrhagic fever to prevent infection.
Q: Do I need to be vaccinated against haemorrhagic fever after being bitten by a rat?
A: Immediate hemorrhagic fever vaccination after being bitten by a mouse is not recommended, because hemorrhagic fever vaccine is mainly used for vaccination in healthy people, not for emergency vaccination after exposure. After the bite, it is recommended to first go to the hospital to treat the wound, and then observe yourself for two weeks, if there is a fever and other similar cold symptoms within two weeks, do not take anti-fever drugs yourself, immediately go to the regular hospital for treatment, and inform the doctor that there is a history of rat bites; If there are no symptoms after 2 weeks of observation, you can choose to go to the vaccination site for hemorrhagic fever vaccination to prevent the next infection.
Data is integrated from China Cd-ROM, Xi'an CDC, Xinhua News Agency, Beijing News, etc
Edited by Ma Haoge Proofreader Liu Yue