Around October this year, 55-year-old Mr. Wu had an inexplicable illness and had a fever all day long, and no matter what antipyretic medicine he took, he couldn't get rid of it.
Mr. Wu used to work in transportation construction in a unit in Guangdong Province, and although he was a civil servant, he required the staff to conduct field research all day, so it was still very hard.
However, it is precisely because of this that Mr. Wu's body has been exercised very strong, and he has not been sick for several years, but who wants to get sick is very serious, and he has a fever for seven or eight days.
In desperation, Mr. Wu thought that his good brother seemed to be working in a tertiary hospital, so Mr. Wu took a long leave and decided to go to the hospital for good treatment, so he came to a tertiary hospital in Guangzhou, at this time Mr. Wu was already weak, with a high fever and even swollen legs.
Here is an explanation of why people with long-term high fever can become very weak.
A prolonged high fever can lead to the depletion of a lot of energy and water in the body, and at the same time, it will also accelerate the metabolism and put the body in a state of hyperactivity.
This constant state of heat puts a strain on various systems in the body, including vital organs such as the heart and kidneys. At the same time, the body's immune system will also be damaged due to persistent high fever, unable to effectively cope with the invasion of disease, resulting in a weaker body.
In addition, a high fever can also lead to symptoms such as dehydration, loss of appetite, and insomnia, further aggravating the patient's sense of weakness. Therefore, a high fever for a long time can have a great negative impact on the body and make a person feel extremely weak. Therefore, it is quite normal for people with a long-term high fever to inevitably become weak.
After CT and color ultrasound examination, the doctor found that Mr. Wu had a deep vein thrombosis in his left leg, and there were also a lot of blood clots in both pulmonary arteries, which was the key to the swelling of the leg, and it may cause pulmonary embolism if he did not hurry up.
However, this disease does not seem to cause high fever!
The blood test results showed that Mr. Wu's white blood cell count was not very high, and combined with the anti-infection treatment of high fever, the doctor boldly speculated that Mr. Wu was most likely not a bacterial infection.
In fact, this is more troublesome, if it is a bacterial infection, sterilization can be done, if it is not a bacterial infection, the doctor will spend a lot of time to find the cause as quickly as possible, otherwise Mr. Wu's life will be in danger.
Just when everyone was at a loss, when Dr. Xi gave Mr. Wu a full body examination, he suddenly found that a black scab appeared on his right upper arm, which was very characteristic - 6-7mm in diameter and volcanic.
The doctor immediately asked, "Is there an injury here?"
Mr. Wu was also surprised and said that he didn't know when the scab came out, anyway, it didn't hurt or itch, so there shouldn't be any big problem.
The doctor touched his chin and began to think, in fact, if he looked closely, the black scab was mainly dark black in color, and the shape was concave downward, which should be called a crater-like eschar in medicine.
Isn't it a typical symptom of a chigger mite bite?
The doctor immediately felt that he had found the crux of the problem, people who were bitten by chigger mites do have a persistent fever, and even if they use conventional antibiotics and antipyretics, it is useless for this kind of high fever.
The doctor inquired more and learned that Mr. Wu had recently gone to Vietnam for field work. At this point, the doctor basically affirmed his judgment.
The body length of the scrub mite is very small, only 0.2 mm, and it belongs to the small mite of the order True Mites, and always likes to live in the wild.
When this scrub mite is infected with a pathogen called scrub typhus, it can spread the pathogen to humans by biting people.
Because pathogens like to multiply in large numbers at the wound site and then enter the bloodstream, there will be a large number of black scabs at the wound site, and when the pathogen develops to a certain number, it will begin to follow the blood flow to wreak havoc in the human body, and will produce corresponding symptoms after reaching different tissues and organs.
Even more frighteningly, the causative agent of scrub typhus still releases toxins in large quantities after death, and the toxins immediately cause high fevers, rashes, and swollen lymph nodes in the liver and spleen.
The doctor collected some black scabs and sent them to the laboratory department for laboratory tests, and then the treatment plan for chigger mites was re-selected for Mr. Wu.
On the day of the medication, Mr. Wu's high temperature, which had not changed for more than ten days, finally dropped, and by the next day, it was completely back to normal, and the test results came out, and traces of Qiang mites were indeed found.
At the same time, the doctor also performed surgery on his left lower limb deep vein and bilateral pulmonary artery thrombosis.
A week later, Mr. Wu recovered and was discharged from the hospital, and there is still no recurrence or discomfort.
Why can't the high fever caused by scrub typhus be pressed with antipyretics and antibiotics?
There are two main reasons why high fever caused by scrub typhus cannot be relieved with antibiotics and antipyretics:
1. Characteristics of pathogens.
Scrub typhus is a bacterium called rickettsia, commonly known as Rickettsia scrubriasis, and it has endocellular parasitic properties.
This bacterium is parasitic inside the cells of the human body and not in body fluids. As a result, it is often difficult for antibiotics to enter cells through cell membranes, and scrub typhus pathogens are also resistant to many antibiotics, making antibiotics very effective in treating scrub typhus.
2. It will produce toxin effect.
When scrub typhus die, they release large amounts of endotoxins that cause one of the typical symptoms of scrub typhus – persistent high fever.
These toxins have a direct effect on the body, resulting in damage to the thermoregulatory center, making it impossible to regulate body temperature back through normal pathways.
Antipyretics usually lower body temperature by affecting the thermoregulatory center, but in scrub typhus, antipyretics are less effective at relieving hyperthermia due to the action of toxins.
Therefore, treatment for scrub typhus is based on the use of specific anti-infective drugs, such as doxycycline and chloramphenicol, as well as other supportive treatments.
To avoid scrub typhus infection, do the following
First of all, you should avoid going to places where chigger mites congregate.
Scrub mites are mainly found in areas such as bushes, bushes and other lush green grasses, woods and grasslands, so contact with or biting chigger mites should be avoided when traveling to these areas.
Secondly, if you must go to the wild, please wear protective clothing such as long sleeves and long pants, which can effectively prevent chigger mite bites. At the same time, be careful to tuck your clothing into your socks or shoes to avoid scrub mites getting into your clothing.
Immediately afterward, insect repellent can be used. The use of insect repellent containing odor irritants can effectively avoid the bite of chigger mites.
When you are engaged in certain jobs, you should check your body regularly, scrub mites will leave a lump similar to a tick after biting people, so you should usually check your body regularly to detect the presence of scrub mites in time.
Finally, reduce your pet's contact with wild animals, which can carry chigger mites, so you should reduce your exposure to pets or wild animals.
The incubation period for scrub typhus is usually 3 to 14 days, sometimes up to 21 days.
The incubation period refers to the period of time from infection with scrub typhus to the onset of clinical symptoms. During this time, patients may not experience noticeable symptoms, but scrub typhus pathogens have multiplied in the body and gradually caused infection.
Once the incubation period is over, patients usually have symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, and some patients may also develop rashes, joint pain, etc.
All in all, scrub typhus likes to gather in the primeval jungle, and you must not go to these places when you are fine, otherwise once there is a scrub typhus infection, it will be a very painful thing, and you must go to the hospital as soon as possible if you see a crater-like black scab.
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