Chungnam Institute of Health and Environment: "Outdoor activity prevention rules must be followed from around Chuseok through October–December"

 
The Chungnam Institute of Health and Environment emphasized on the 16th that as outdoor activities such as grave-mowing (beolcho) and ancestral grave visits (seongmyo) are expected to increase ahead of the Chuseok holiday, people should be cautious about preventing scrub typhus, a major tick-borne infectious disease in autumn.

Scrub typhus is an infectious disease caused by being bitten by chigger mite larvae infected with the Orientia tsutsugamushi bacteria. It can be contracted during outdoor activities such as farming, weeding, visiting graves, and hiking.

In particular, patient occurrences are concentrated in autumn in South Korea, and from October to December is the peak period when scrub typhus breaks out in earnest. Therefore, it is important to follow prevention rules to avoid being bitten by ticks during outdoor activities.

Chungnam is one of the regions with a high incidence of scrub typhus patients, and the provincial Institute of Health and Environment is continuously monitoring the occurrence status within the region by conducting tests on suspected patients.

When engaging in outdoor activities, the following prevention rules must be observed: △ wearing long sleeves and long pants to minimize skin exposure, △ using tick repellents, △ avoiding sitting or lying directly on grass, △ using a mat, △ shaking out and washing clothes after farming or outdoor activities, and △ taking a shower or bath immediately after returning home.

When infected with scrub typhus, symptoms such as fever, chills, headaches, and muscle aches usually appear within 1 to 3 weeks after being bitten by a tick, and a black scab-like eschar often forms at the bite site.

If symptoms such as fever, headache, or rash appear after outdoor activities, or if an eschar is discovered, scrub typhus should be suspected, and individuals should visit a medical institution for diagnosis and treatment.

An official from the provincial Institute of Health and Environment stated, "As outdoor activities like weeding and grave visits increase around Chuseok, the possibility of exposure to tick-borne infectious diseases can also rise. During October and December, when scrub typhus patients occur intensively, please be sure to follow prevention rules during outdoor activities and promptly visit a medical institution for treatment if suspicious symptoms appear."