After bedbugs, this time, the gross “this” is on the rise…If you get bitten, you get a black scab.

Photo provided by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency

Over the past month, the number of patients in South Korea with ‘scrub typhus,’ a disease transmitted by mites, has increased more than fivefold, and the number of mites has more than tripled.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 15th, the number of scrub typhus patients in the 44th week of this year (October 29 to November 4) was 784, about 5.4 times more than the 145 in the 41st week.

The mite density index increased 3.2 times from 0.58 in the 41st week to 1.83 in the 44th week.

Compared to the same period last year, the total number of patients decreased by 157 or about 7%, but the weekly mite density index increased by 33.6% to 0.46.

Scrub typhus, a Class 3 infectious disease, is caused by being bitten by a mite larva carrying the scrub typhus bacterium. Usually, mite larvae are most active from September to November, and more than 50% of scrub typhus patients occur in November.

The mortality rate in Korea is not very high at 0.1-0.3%, but symptoms such as fever, rash, chills, and headache appear within ten days after being bitten, and a black scab forms at the bitten site.

To prevent scrub typhus, the KDCA advised that special attention is needed to minimize exposure by wearing light-colored long-sleeved clothes, socks, and gloves when outdoors, and to avoid contact with grass as much as possible.

It also emphasized the use of mite repellents, shaking off and washing clothes immediately upon returning from outdoor activities, and checking for mite bites or insect bites on the body.