The Adolfo Lutz Institute confirmed this Monday, the 12th, that the biomedical and dentist Mariana Giordano, 36, died of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. She and her boyfriend, racing driver Douglas Costa, died suddenly last Thursday, the 8th, after both were hospitalized with an intense fever and severe headaches – symptoms that the couple began to experience days before.
Douglas’s cause of death has yet to be confirmed. According to the State Department of Health, the material collected for diagnosis continues to be analyzed by the Instituto Adolfo Lutz
“The Secretary of State for Health informs that the Adolfo Lutz Institute confirms the diagnosis of Rocky Mountain spotted fever of MGP, 36 years old, biomedical and dentist, who died suddenly in São Paulo after being hospitalized with fever and headaches that started on the 3rd June 2023” informed the folder in a note.
“MGP’s boyfriend, DPC, 42 years old, was hospitalized with the same symptoms on June 7th. Both died on the 8th. The material collected for the diagnosis of CPD is still being analyzed at the IAL”, added the Secretariat, which states that the site of contamination has not yet been confirmed and is under investigation
Mariana may have acquired the disease – transmitted by the star tick – in Campinas, in the interior of the State, where she was at the beginning of the month. She claimed that she noticed bite marks on her body after passing through the city and began to feel the symptoms on June 3, when she was traveling with the pilot to Monte Verde, Minas Gerais.
Douglas also started to show the same symptoms as his girlfriend, and was hospitalized on the last 7th, in a hospital in Jundiaí, in the interior of São Paulo. In addition to headaches and a high fever, he also had red spots all over his body. He died on the 8th, the day after admission.
The couple’s death, aggravated by the rapid evolution of symptoms, was being treated as a mystery by epidemiologists in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. In addition to Rocky Mountain spotted fever, there was the suspicion that Mariana and Douglas might have died of dengue or leptospirosis.
“That Saturday (May 27th), they went to a party in Campinas, where they probably got infected. It was a place with weeds and they stayed until dawn at that party. By all accounts, it was the tick. They were with several friends , but only the two of them had the symptoms”, said Ivete Giordano, mother of the dentist, in an interview with Estadão this Monday, 12, before confirming the cause of her daughter’s death.
Mariana’s death is the fourth by spotted fever in the State of São Paulo in 2023. In all, there are ten confirmed diagnoses so far this year, according to the government. In a statement, the State Department of Health reported that Campinas and Piracicaba are the municipalities “with the highest number of registered cases of the disease” in São Paulo.
Last year, the State registered 62 cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and, of these, 47 resulted in death. The lethality rate, 75%, shows how dangerous and fatal the disease, which has the star tick as its main transmitter.
“The Secretary of State for Health reinforces that people who live in or travel to areas of transmission are attentive to the slightest sign of fever and that they seek a medical service informing that they have been in these regions to undergo early treatment and avoid the worsening of the disease” .
What is Spotted Fever?
Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a disease transmitted by the star tick, which is not the common tick found in dogs, for example. The species can be found in large animals, such as oxen and horses, in addition to capybaras. Transmission occurs from the infected tick to the person, with no person-to-person transmission, as explained by the Ministry of Health.
The disease is characterized by the sudden set of symptoms, such as high fever and body pain and red spots all over the body and also on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. The disease is curable as long as antibiotics are applied in the first days of symptoms and delay in diagnosis can cause serious complications.
Collaborator Jose Maria Tomazela
