Last updated on August 29th, 2024 at 06:10 am
Tragedy Strikes Madrid
A 74-year-old man in Spain has died after contracting Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, a life-threatening viral disease that can have a death rate as high as 40 percent. The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, died Saturday after being hospitalized near Madrid. The man was infected with the deadly virus when he was bitten by a tick in Toledo, which is approximately 100 miles southwest of Madrid. He was taken to the Rey Juan Carlos University Hospital in Mostoles, Spain.
Hospitalization and Deterioration
Following the rare CCHF virus diagnosis, he was treated in a high-dependency isolation unit at La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, after his admittance to prevent viral contamination. He was initially considered stable but deteriorated very fast, developing severe symptoms of CCHF. The efforts to save him were in vain, and he yielded to the virus on Saturday.
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever has sometimes been called ‘Ebola-like’ because of its similar hemorrhagic symptoms. It is a tick-borne virus. The WHO has designated CCHF as a “priority disease” one of nine pathogens most likely to cause a pandemic. There is at present no vaccine available against CCHF.
Transmission and Symptoms
CCHF is spread by the bites of contaminated ticks or by contact with bodily fluids from infected animals and humans. CCHF is endemic to Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Asia. The onset of symptoms of CCHF includes fever, myalgia, abdominal pain, sore throat, and vomiting. The other symptoms include mood changes, confusion, and somnolence, sometimes followed by bleeding from the nose and small blood vessels in the skin and tissues.
Prevention and Treatment
The WHO advocates for general supportive care and symptom management as the main approaches to treating CCHF. The antiviral medication ribavirin seems to have some benefits in the treatment of the infection. People are encouraged to wear protective clothes, apply insect repellents, and conduct a careful and thorough search of their bodies for ticks after every exposure to the outdoors to avoid tickborne infections.
