In Russia, there are no problems with the localization of anthrax foci.
Photo: Nikolai OBEREMCHENKO
In the Republic of Tyva there was an outbreak of a particularly dangerous infection, anthrax. Four residents of the place have been diagnosed with this alarming diagnosis, two more are under suspicion and are being examined. We talk about what anthrax is, what its symptoms are, how to prevent contagion and not get sick in our material.
How do you get anthrax?
People are infected with anthrax mainly from animals, agricultural and wild. This infection is usually not spread from person to person. Most often they become infected by eating the meat of sick animals, slaughtering carcasses, touching skins, etc.
Symptoms of anthrax infection
The symptoms of anthrax infection depend on the form of the disease.
In the cutaneous form, a small blister appears on the body, which later transforms into a painless ulcer with a black center. With timely treatment, the patient’s prognosis for recovery is usually good.
The pulmonary form, which is contracted by inhaling the pathogen, is manifested by fever (by this doctors mean fever, muscle and joint pain, feeling hot or chilly), chest pain or shortness of breath, and excessive sweating. The lethality of the pulmonary form can reach up to 45 percent, TASS reports.
The intestinal form of the disease is characterized by abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Mortality can reach up to 40 percent.
Rospotrebnadzor reported that the threat of the spread of anthrax was excluded – the outbreak was taken under control. Immunologist Vladimir Bolibok also sees no reason to panic.
“The method of epidemiological investigation, when the entire chain of patients is identified, has been worked out in our country and all this happens quite quickly,” he commented on Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda. “In addition, the unfavorable areas for anthrax are known, well studied, and the location of such a focus of the disease does not present special difficulties.
How is anthrax treated?
– How dangerous is this disease? How is anthrax treated?
Anthrax is a particularly dangerous infection. It develops very quickly and very quickly leads to severe damage, sepsis of the body. This is a life-threatening situation, that is, you can die from it. If left untreated, one in three people die from the skin form, and if sepsis develops, only 1 in 10 will survive. Therefore, the sooner the correct diagnosis is made and treatment is started, the sick are more likely to recover. . Effective antibiotics are used for treatment. If treatment is started on time, the chances of a successful outcome for the patient are high.
How to avoid getting anthrax
– If you are visiting areas where there is an anthrax outbreak, do not eat raw or undercooked meat. Avoid contact with livestock, animal products, and animal carcasses, advises Mikhail Kagan, Honorable Doctor of Russia, Senior Scientific Editor of Vrachu.ru, a distance medical education service.
– Prolonged cooking of meat during cooking (more than half an hour) is a sufficient measure to minimize the possibility of survival of the pathogen, stresses the expert. – But when frying meat, this is not possible.
There is a vaccine to prevent anthrax, Dr. Kagan told kp.ru. But it is recommended for routine use only in certain groups of adults at risk. For example, some military and laboratory workers.
