‘Do not dismiss it’: U.K. infectious disease experts warn of illness transmitted by bug bites in the Mediterranean – CTV
Feb. 14, 2023
Infectious disease experts in the United Kingdom are highlighting an illness they say is endemic in the Mediterranean basin and are urging for more awareness and early treatment to prevent “severe complications.”
The physicians point to a case of a U.K. man in his 50s who tested positive for the illness, called Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF), after returning home following a trip to the Mediterranean. Their report on the case was published in December in the BMJ,a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the British Medical Association.
The man’s symptoms began a day after he returned from his trip, starting with symptoms of malaise, fever, chills and a severe headache, the report states.
The report included an account by the patient. “In late spring I took a trip to the Mediterranean,” he said.“I was bitten by an insect in the long grass but dismissed it because this often happens. Within a few days of my return home, I started to feel unwell.”
