Time now for our "Life & Info" segment... where we focus on information useful for your everyday life.<br />When heading out to enjoy the autumn weather, people are advised to wear long clothes and pack tick repellent.<br />With a peak in tick activity, protection against tick-borne illnesses is crucial.<br />Park Se-young has more.<br />With mountains covered in fall foliage and fruits and grains ripe and full, …it's the perfect time to head out and enjoy the autumn season.<br />However, tick activity peaks in autumn, …and so do cases of tick-borne illnesses like scrub typhus.<br />"Scrub typhus starts in September and peaks in October and November. It's related to the generation of Leptotrombidium pallidum larvae at this time of the year."<br />Many patients are in their 50s to 70s.<br />With the aging population in farming and mountain villages, …the elderly are thought to be getting bitten while harvesting crops.<br />"We think the elderly in rural areas become exposed mostly while working during harvest time in autumn."<br />Scrub typhus is transmitted to humans when bitten by certain kinds of trombiculid mites.<br />Symptoms of high fever, muscle aches and rashes appear after a latent period of one to three weeks.<br />The bite area becomes covered with a black scab and the infection can even lead to death.<br />Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or SFTS, …which causes multiple organ failure, also peaks during this time of the year.<br />In the last five years, 830 people were infected with tick-borne illnesses in Korea.<br />Of that total, 156 people died.<br />Because neither of the illnesses have vaccines, …people doing outdoor activities are advised to wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants and to use insect repellent.<br />It also helps to take a thorough shower and wash your clothes after getting home.<br />And those with symptoms like high fever within three weeks of outdoor activities should see a doctor as soon as possible.<br />Park Se-young, Arirang News.<br />
