Bloody tears: a frightening symptom of Marburg fever has been named

    Healthcare 4 October 2024 939

    A characteristic symptom of Marburg hemorrhagic fever is bleeding of the skin and mucous membranes, including blood flowing out of the eyes.

    Mikhail Bolkov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Immunology and Physiology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told about this, Mir24 reports.

    "This disease is characterized by bleeding through the skin, through the mucous membranes, through the eyes, nose, and so on," the scientist noted.

    According to him, it is possible to get infected with Marburg fever by contact - from the skin of a sick person or mucous membrane, through blood, saliva or tissue on which there are secretions. Marburg is not one of the airborne infections, which means that simply following the rules of hygiene will help stop the spread of fever.

    "Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a relative of Ebola. Marburg lives in bats, in particular, which eat fruits," the scientist added.

    Earlier, the WHO warned that a new epidemic could threaten the world, since there is no cure or vaccine for this disease. Gennady Onishchenko, MD, believes that this is nothing more than a possible prognosis.

    "WHO has identified a list that includes about 30 potentially dangerous viruses that can cause a global pandemic. But this does not mean that a pandemic will necessarily happen, or that a particular virus will cause it, because both science and nature do not stand still," the scientist said.

    According to Gennady Onishchenko, WHO forecasts are primarily signals to governments and scientific communities about what changes should be made to national medical strategies, what to train doctors, in which direction to develop epidemiology and virology.