Until the 26th year of the last century in Russia, tularemia was considered a "chamber" variety of the plague. Its manifestations largely coincided with the clinical plague picture, but were much less lethal. After the isolation by California scientists in the 11th year of the same century of the bacterium responsible for the disease of tularemia, it became clear that the recorded cases were not a mild plague at all, but a different disease.
Sources of infection
And yet, tularemia - what is it? Like plague, it is an infectious disease that affects both humans and animals. It is spread by all the same rodents that were also to blame for the plague pandemics. Tularemia can be transmitted from sick (dead) animals, and through the bites of insects - fleas and ticks that lived on infected rodents, and through water, grain, hay that sick, say, mice came into contact with. Bacteria can enter the body both by air and through the eyes and mucous membranes. Very often, hunters became infected with it during the cutting of carcasses of sick hares ormuskrat.
Signs of disease
So, the person is suspected of having tularemia. That this is it, fever, insomnia, migraine-like headaches, swelling of the lymph nodes, which are very painful, may indicate. Often these nodes begin to fester. A person sweats a lot at night. A couple of days later, buboes form. It is worth making sure: the patient has tularemia. Laboratory tests show that this is not the plague, but the infected person is isolated anyway, although tularemia is not believed to be transmitted from person to person.
The good news is two things. First, the mortality from this disease is very low - less than one percent. Secondly, once having been ill, a person may never again be afraid of the diagnosis of tularemia. What is this, if not a gift of fate? Indeed, from many infectious diseases, stable lifelong immunity is not developed.
Prevention is the key to he alth
The main measure to prevent the spread of this disease is deratization of premises, both residential and industrial. To avoid catching tularemia, you should take measures to avoid insect bites - proper clothing, use of ointments and sprays against ticks, anti-flea policies for pets. Drinking water sources in places where cases of tularemia infection have been recorded should be under strict sanitary supervision and control.
People whose profession involves increased riskcatch this disease, be sure to get vaccinated. The tularemia vaccine is a scratch on the shoulder into which a fresh vaccine is injected. The vaccine does not provide immunity for life, so it has to be repeated every 5 years.
Possible consequences
What else is "good" tularemia - complications after it are relatively rare. Among them, in the first place is secondary pneumonia, which is not a problem to cure with the modern level of medicine. Meningitis, arthritis, neurosis, and meningoencephalitis appear much less frequently.
So, if you are at risk of getting tularemia due to your occupation, do not forget to go to the clinic for a vaccination. Let it be treated easily, let it rarely give complications, but still it’s better not to encounter it at all, especially in your own body.
