On August 30, Doctor CK1 Le Thi My Chau, Department of Internal Medicine, Tam Anh General Hospital (HCMC) said that doctors here had just promptly treated and saved an elderly woman BTS (80 years old, living in Dong Nai ) who was "attacked" by ticks.
Doctor examines old lady
Accordingly, before being admitted to the hospital, Ms. S. suddenly had a fever, fatigue, and pain that did not subside. She went to a local clinic and was diagnosed with an unknown infection. She was then given medication and sent home to self-monitor.
However, her condition became more and more serious, so she went to Tam Anh General Hospital for examination.
At the hospital, Ms. S. was unconscious, had low blood pressure, and her blood oxygen level dropped to about 93%. The doctor examined her and found that she had ulcers under her chest folds - a typical sign of tick fever.
"When we asked about the patient's medical history and the epidemic area, we learned that there was an orchard around the patient's house. She also regularly cleaned the rambutan garden," said Dr. Chau.
After determining the cause, the patient stopped using conventional antibiotics and switched to intravenous antibiotics specifically for treating scrub typhus.
Immediately after taking the medicine, the patient recovered quickly, her fever stopped, and her blood oxygen levels and blood pressure gradually stabilized. Currently, Ms. S. is alert, eating normally, and has been discharged from the hospital.
Dr. Chau added that tick fever is a common disease in areas with many trees. Patients often live, work, and travel in gardens and fields, where there are many ticks and may have the parasite Orientia tsutsugamushi living on them.
Many cases of severe illness, shock, multiple organ failure such as kidney, liver, increased liver enzymes... Many cases require mechanical ventilation and dialysis.
Doctor Chau recommends that if patients discover skin ulcers accompanied by symptoms of prolonged fever, body aches, cough, fatigue, jaundice, yellow eyes, etc., they should go to the hospital for timely examination and treatment.
The tick is a parasite of Orientia tsutsugamushi, which lives on ticks and is commonly found in densely wooded areas.
Tick fever is a common disease in wooded areas.
Patients with tick fever often have symptoms of prolonged fever (fever above 37.5 degrees Celsius, lasting more than 7 days), swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, headache, cough, digestive disorders...
The main characteristic of tick fever is skin ulcers in areas such as the genitals, buttocks, legs... (because ticks usually only jump 20-30 cm high). It is very rare for ulcers to appear on the upper body.
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