Preparation to lead no worries about tick-borne disease

Fear is growing after the first tick-borne virus infection case was found in Korea. The health authorities said they separated the severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus transmitted by a tick bite from a 60-something woman who died in August last year.

The term “killer tick” is exaggerated, however. When the virus was first found in China, it was known to have a 30 percent of death rate. It turned out, however, that the death rate is six percent, much lower than 20 to 30 percent of Japanese encephalitis, as only 0.5 percent of ticks are infected with the SFTS virus. This means that if a tick bites people, they do not get infected immediately, and even if people are infected, they do not die right away. Most of those who died of ticks in China and Japan as well as Korea are the elderly in the 60s and older who have weak immune system.

The wrong information that a tick bite leads to death is spreading over the Internet, however. Jeju Island is losing tourists after suspected patients are found, and tee time reservations are cancelled at golf courses there. People should be careful about ticks but there is no need to be that fearful.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus caused by ticks is not new and has been in Korea for three decades. It was the first time that the authorities separated the virus from the victim, but it is highly likely that there have been people who were infected with the virus or died of it. Even if its infection rate or death rate may not be high, people need to be careful about it because there is no vaccine or anti-virus medicine.

Since the virus is transmitted by ticks, it is advised to wear long sleeves and long pants for outdoor activities so as to minimize skin exposure and after returning home, it must be effective to take a shower and wash clothes thoroughly.

Like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the avian flu, excessive fear makes the situation serious rather than viruses themselves. As fear dampens industries and the economy, the Health Ministry correspondents decided to refrain from using exaggerated expressions based on the reporting guidelines on infectious diseases that they made. Hopefully, Internet media outlets also should be careful about reporting not to stoke unnecessary fear.