Deadly sting bugs appear in China

Chinese health officials report that 18 people in the central region died of a bug bite.

Xinhua quoted Ha Nam health authorities as saying the victims were among 557 cases of leukemia since May 2007 in Tin Duong city. The disease usually breaks out from May to August every year. Most people are aged 40 to 70. Symptoms are high fever, severe headache, muscle aches, colds. Most people suffer from diseases living in two districts and two districts of Tin Duong City, Ha Nam Province.

For example, Shangcheng District has 120 people, including one who died, between January and September 8. Wang Wei, the director of the district hospital, said that among 40 patients treated in the hospital, 17 recovered. Twenty-three patients remained seriously ill and were taken to a higher level hospital.

Wu Xiuqin, a 74-year-old female patient, is one of those who have recovered. Wu's husband said that after her illness, her legs hurt so much that she could not stand. ' When the disease becomes severe, my wife has a high fever and falls into a coma ,' Xinhua quoted her husband as saying.

One patient was treated at a hospital in Tin Duong City, Ha Nam Province on September 9. (Photo: Xinhua).

Xu Bianli, deputy director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Henan Province, said health professionals began to monitor leukemia from May 31 to understand the cause of the disease. . Experts also came to Xinyang City to help local doctors diagnose and prevent disease.

According to Xu, because doctors in Tin Duong do not know much about leukemia, it was not discovered until 2007.

Leukemia rapidly reduces the number of white blood cells and platelets in the blood, causing internal organs to stop working and leading to death. People who come into contact with patients can also get the disease if they do not take precautions. Patients can be cured if treated early. Dr. Bao Feying at Shangcheng County Hospital confirmed that two drugs, Doxycycline and Ofloxacin, can cure the disease.

Determining the cause of leukemia in Tin Duong is not easy. Of the 40 people who had been treated at Shangcheng District Hospital, only 14 believed they were bitten by bugs. The rest are not sure if they have been bitten.