South Korea reports first severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) death of 2024
The Korea Centers for Disease Control (KCDC) reports today on the first severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) patient death.
The patient, an 86 year old man who lives in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon-do, did agricultural work and collected forest products in the garden in front of his house 4 days before the onset of symptoms. On May 1, he visited a medical institution with symptoms such as fever and was hospitalized for treatment. However, his condition worsened and he died on May 10 after being confirmed positive for SFTS (May 7).
This is the fourth SFTS case of 2024 (3 people completed treatment, 1 person died).
Since 2013, when the first patient in Korea was reported, a total of 1,895 cases of SFTS have occurred by 2023, of which 355 have died, showing a fatality rate of 18.7%.
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Director Ji Young-mi of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency emphasized, “SFTS is an infectious disease with no treatment or preventive vaccine and a high mortality rate, so avoiding being bitten by ticks is more important than anything else.” As outdoor activities are expected to increase in the spring, “when engaging in outdoor activities, “Please follow the rules to prevent tick-borne infectious diseases.”
SFTS is an infectious disease that begins to occur in the spring when opportunities for tick exposure increase due to increased outdoor activities such as agricultural work, forest product collection, and mountain climbing, and has a high fatality rate and there is no preventive vaccine or treatment.
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Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a newly emerging infectious disease. Symptoms and laboratory abnormalities are fever, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia, and elevated serum enzyme levels. Multiorgan failure occurs in severe cases, and 6%–30% of case-patients die. The syndrome is caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV) (genus Phlebovirus, family Bunyaviridae).
Ixodid tick species are implicated as vectors of SFTSV.