Gyeongnam Goseong-gun "Be Careful of Ticks During Outdoor Activities"

The Best Prevention Is Not Getting Bitten

Goseong-gun, Gyeongnam Province is making every effort to prevent tick-borne infectious diseases as outdoor activities increase in the spring season.

Diseases transmitted by ticks include Tsutsugamushi disease, Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS), Lyme disease, and tick-borne encephalitis. This season requires the most caution as outdoor activities such as farming, harvesting forest products, and hiking increase, making exposure to ticks more likely.

In particular, Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) has no preventive vaccine or treatment and has a high fatality rate.

SFTS occurs when a tick infected with the SFTS virus bites a person, causing symptoms such as a high fever over 38℃ and gastrointestinal symptoms, along with decreased white blood cells and platelets. In some cases, the disease progresses severely and can lead to death.

Since the first domestic death from SFTS this year (in Haenam-gun, Jeonnam Province) has occurred, it is very important to follow preventive measures to avoid tick bites during outdoor activities.

The best prevention is to avoid being bitten. When engaging in outdoor activities such as farming, wear protective clothing like long sleeves and long pants, and if symptoms such as high fever, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea occur within two weeks after outdoor activities, immediately visit a medical institution, inform them of your farming or outdoor activity history, and receive medical care.

Shim Yoon-kyung, Director of the Public Health Center, stated, “SFTS is a highly fatal infectious disease with a mortality rate of one in five patients, and since there is no preventive vaccine or treatment, avoiding tick bites is of utmost importance,” and urged, “Please be sure to follow preventive measures during spring outdoor activities.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.