Schoolboy, 12, dies from horrific head lice infestation after fighting for life
A 12-year-old schoolboy has died after a horrific head lice infection led to septic shock and liver failure.
Amador Flores Vargas's family rushed the young lad to hospital after noticing he was severely dehydrated and had a fever that couldn't be brought under control.
For two weeks, the boy fought for his life while a typhus-spreading bacterial infection called rickettsiosis ravaged his body. It had been transmitted by blood-sucking lice in his hometown of Sabinas, in the Mexican state of Coahuila.
Amador was treated in Coahuila's Mother and Child Hospital, but doctors found he was already suffering from advanced liver failure and septic shock caused by a massive louse infestation.
Despite being pumped full of emergency antibiotics, Amador's condition rapidly worsened and he died on June 2, to the horror of his family. Hospital director Francisco Iribarren explained in a press conference that the boy had been infected for at least eight days before he was brought to the clinic.
"The young man arrived in very compromised conditions; he had liver alterations, failure in platelet production and an advanced septicaemia," he added.
Because of the rarity of the disease, local authorities have imposed a sanitary cordon on the family's neighbourhood to prevent the parasite from spreading, with a pest extermination team searching for further infestations.
And epidemiologist Alfredo De León Camacho has recommended that the local population seek immediate medical attention if they present symptoms including persistent fever, rashes or general discomfort, especially if they have recently come in contact with parasites.
Rickettsiosis is caused by bacteria from the Rickettsia genus, which can be spread to humans by bites from fleas, ticks, mites or lice. If left untreated, the infection can lead to blood poisoning and become life-threatening or even fatal.
Other symptoms of rickettsiosis include headache, swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, stomach pain, fatigue and nausea and vomiting.
While rickettsial diseases occur all around the world, in some areas certain types are more prevalent. In the United States, the most common is rocky mountain spotted fever, which is spread by infected adult ticks. In South Africa, Korea and large cities in Russia, Rickettsialpox is more usual to see - spread by mites that live on mice.
Meanwhile, Boutonneuse fever is concentrated in Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy and Israel, commonly transmitted by ticks carried by dogs and cats. And Murine typhus is prevalent all around the world, especially in cities with high rat infestations.
While rickettsial diseases are rare in the UK, they can appear in the population as a result of travelling to a country where the infection is present. Typhus can be transmitted by infected fleas, mites and lice that live on small animals like dogs, cats, rats, mice and squirrels, and can be carried by humans on their skin, hair and clothes.
Typhus is mostly found in Asia, South America and parts of Africa, particularly in places where public hygiene is poor, living conditions are typically overcrowded, or there is plenty of grassland or bushes for fleas and lice to hide in.
The NHS explains that while there is no vaccine to prevent typhus, travellers can lower their risk of being infected by wearing long-sleeved tops and trousers, using insect repellent containing DEET, washing regularly, and changing clothes frequently when visiting areas with high rates of typhus.
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