It's Beginning to Look Like Fatal Outbreak Came from Mexico, Children 5x More Likely to Die
In recent years, the U.S. medical establishment has not exactly covered itself in glory. However, warnings involving fatal illnesses that disproportionately affect children and for which reliable treatment exists, deserve serious attention.
On Friday, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory regarding an outbreak of Rocky Mountain spotted fever among some in the U.S. who have either traveled to or lived in Tecate, Mexico, a city of more than 100,000 located just across the U.S.-Mexico border in the Mexican state of Baja California.
“Children younger than 10 years old are five times more likely than adults to die from RMSF,” the advisory stated.
According to the CDC, Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a bacterial disease that’s spread through bites of infected ticks. It can cause fever, headache, and rash, and can be deadly if not treated with antibiotics.
Between late July and early December, southern California hospitals treated five patients with the disease, the advisory states. The CDC identified four of those five patients as 18 years old or younger. Three of the five patients died. All five had developed symptoms within two weeks of travel to Tecate.
Indeed, nearly everything about this disease places victims in a dangerous position and health-care providers in a difficult one.
For instance, although the disease comes from ticks, the CDC advisory states that “many patients do not recall being bitten by a tick.”
To make matters worse, early signs include common symptoms such as abdominal pain that are uncomfortable but might not seem threatening. Readers can view the CDC’s entire list of symptoms here.
Once the disease takes off, however, it gallops. According to the CDC advisory, in fact, half of all fatalities occur “within eight days of illness onset.”
“Untreated disease is often fatal, and the case fatality rate of RMSF in Mexico can exceed 40%,” the advisory stated.
The advisory does contain one bit of encouraging news. There’s no need to wait on research, for reliable medication already exists.
“Early treatment with doxycycline saves lives,” the advisory stated.
According to CBS, those three RMSF fatalities included a San Diego, California, resident who died in November. Prior to this year, the last RMSF death in San Diego occurred in 2014.
These days, of course, anything that comes from the medical establishment encounters a certain degree of well-earned public skepticism.
That was apparent from public responses to the CDC’s advisory when it was posted to the social media platform X on Friday.
CDC issues HAN Health Advisory for providers & the public about an outbreak of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) among people in the U.S. with recent travel to or residence in the city of Tecate, state of Baja California, Mexico.
Read full alert: https://t.co/6edvtrTm4q pic.twitter.com/n7a1IA3iWn
— CDC (@CDCgov) December 8, 2023
Upon seeing the alert, some users responded as if they have not forgotten the events of the past three years.
“A new way for you to lie. Defund the CDC!” one user wrote.
A new way for you to lie. Defund the CDC!
— Fallout Dave (@Fallout5Dave) December 9, 2023
“Nobody trusts anything you have to say!” another user wrote.
Nobody trusts anything you have to say!
— KingsKnight (@KingsKnight832) December 9, 2023
The CDC, in other words, has a lingering credibility problem.
Having acknowledged that problem, however, there remains every reason to take the current advisory seriously.
After all, it did not tell everyone to cower in fear or report on their neighbors. It described an outbreak of a severe disease and reminded health providers of a known treatment.
If more young children have contracted RMSF, we pray that the advisory is effective and that treatment will save them.
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