In Russia, there have been no cases of fever with thrombocytopenic syndrome, Rospotrebnadzor reported. Thus, the department commented on the reports that appeared in the media about the detection of a dangerous virus in China.
The press service of the department clarified that this disease is not new, since it was first diagnosed in 2009.
“No cases of acute fever with thrombocytopenic syndrome (SFTS) have been reported in the Russian Federation. Specialists of the scientific organizations of Rospotrebnadzor have accumulated extensive experience in studying numerous representatives of the Bunyavirus family, and there is a potential to counteract the spread of SFTS on the territory of the Russian Federation, ”RIA Novosti reported.
Rospotrebnadzor noted that at the moment, specific diagnostics have been developed to determine this disease, allowing it to be detected using PCR and ELISA tests.
Earlier, the Global Times reported that an outbreak of the SFTS virus was recorded in China, which is transmitted mainly through tick bites. According to the newspaper, the disease has already been identified in 60 people, seven infected have died.
According to local media reports, the infection was found in Jiangsu province - 37 people were infected there in the first half of the year. Later, another 23 infected were found in Anhui province in the east of the country. One of the sick women suffered from cough and fever, and doctors also reported a decrease in white blood cells and platelets in the blood.
According to virologists, tick bites are the main way the infection spreads, but the virus can also be transmitted from person to person through blood or mucous membranes. Doctors also urged citizens not to panic and take precautions.
Specialist in especially dangerous infections, Doctor of Medical Sciences Vladislav Zhemchugov, in a conversation with RT, confirmed that this infection has long been known and belongs to the category of Bunyaviruses.
“It is transmitted through ticks, so it cannot be classified as dangerous, it is still not an airborne transmission route. The attitude towards him is serious, but not the same as the plague or the current coronavirus. This is a vector-borne disease, that is, it can go directly from person to person if you take blood with a syringe and inject it with this syringe to another person. Sometimes there is pus, wounds of some kind, but this is the rarest case, ”the doctor explained.
He specified that the disease is natural focal and occurs where insects that carry it are common.
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This virus is the causative agent of severe fever with thrombocytopenic syndrome, that is, with the disease, the number of platelets in the blood decreases, which can lead to hemorrhages, explained RT virologist, MD, professor Anatoly Alshtein.
“This is a bunyavirus - a very large group, there are many pathogens. Some of them are also quite common in Russia. As for this virus, it did not stand out in Russia. It was found in China, it was also isolated in South Korea, ”the specialist said.
He also urged not to fear the epidemic of the SFTS disease, noting the ineffectiveness of the method of transmission of the virus from person to person.
Doctor of Medical Sciences, State Duma deputy, former chief state sanitary doctor of Russia Gennady Onishchenko, in turn, also said that he saw no reason for concern.
“There is nothing beyond the PRC. Moreover, today China is closed for visits, ”he stressed.
At the end of December 2019, the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus began to spread in China, causing the global COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown origin was reported by the authorities of the Chinese city of Wuhan. The disease quickly spread outside the country.
At the end of January, the World Health Organization recognized the outbreak of coronavirus in China as an emergency of international importance.
In March, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the situation with coronavirus infection "can be described as a pandemic."
According to Johns Hopkins University, the total number of COVID-19 cases recorded in the world has exceeded 19.4 million. More than 722 thousand people have become victims of the disease.