マダニ媒介マダニばいかい感染かんせん症しょうSFTS ヒトヒトから初はつ感染かんせんした医師いしが注意ちゅうい呼よびかけ

A record number of cases have been reported of SFTS Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, an infectious disease mainly transmitted by ticks. In an interview with NHK, the doctor who was the first in Japan to confirm human-to-human transmission of the disease two years ago warned that infection can occur even with brief contact.

SFTS is mainly transmitted through bites from ticks carrying the virus, but it can also be transmitted from person to person through contact with the patients blood and other bodily fluids.

It was reported that the first domestic case occurred two years ago, when a doctor in Yamaguchi Prefecture was infected by a patient, and this doctor agreed to an interview this time.

The doctor said that at the time, he attended to a male patient in his 90s who visited the emergency outpatient clinic with symptoms such as fever. The consultation lasted about 15 minutes, but since the patient was hard of hearing, we spoke at a distance of about 30 centimeters.

I remember that I wasnt wearing anything other than a mask, like goggles.

The patient was confirmed to have SFTS and was hospitalized for treatment, but their symptoms worsened and they died two days after seeking medical attention.

The doctor developed cold-like symptoms such as fever and headache nine days later, and tested positive for the infection.

The doctor was not bitten by a tick during this period, and the symptoms later resolved.

The doctor said, I was surprised when I learned the test results.

I am not aware of having come into direct contact with blood or anything similar, but there is a possibility that I was infected during examination or postmortem procedures.

I think its a rare case, but I want people to know that infection can also occur through brief contact, he said.

Expert: Medical institutions should be on alert. Professor Koichi Izumikawa of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Nagasaki University Hospital said, Human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with the patients blood and so on, but in ordinary households it rarely happens, so there is no need to be overly afraid.

On the other hand, the number of SFTS patients has been increasing year by year, and the regions where infections have been confirmed are expanding. Therefore, any medical institution may have to examine patients, and it is necessary to be more vigilant.