UK: Superbug being brought back by Iraq casualties/coverup in U.S.

[philb]

LONDON:: Superbug brought back by Iraq war casualties
Posted by: "Lucky" [email protected] haydencrusan
Date: Thu Nov 9, 2006 7:00 pm ((PST))

happening here in U.S, but since they are sent to military hospital care, the story has not really been noticed in papers .... then again we do have our "censored news" so you may never hear of it, but it is here ....


http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1962456.ece

Superbug brought back by Iraq war casualties
By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Published: 08 November 2006
Injured soldiers returning from Iraq have brought back a superbug that has been
linked with outbreaks in NHS hospitals where they have been treated, a health minister has confirmed. The links between casualties brought back from Iraq and outbreaks in the NHS have caused alarm within the health service and led to renewed demands for more dedicated wards for Britain's armed forces to enable wounded soldiers to be isolated more effectively.

The Health Protection Agency has urged NHS hospitals to step up their infection
control measures as a result of the outbreaks of a strain of the superbug Acinetobacter baumannii which is resistant to many types of antibiotics.

"A multi-resistant strain of A. baumannii known as the 'T strain' has
been isolated from casualties returning to the UK from Iraq," the Health minister Andy Burnham said in a Commons written answer.

He said the exact source of the infection had not been identified but US casualties returning to America had also been found to be carrying the superbug.

[aquart]

1. Well, wouldn't that serve us right.

[Celebration]

2. Google found one local article on this

http://www.gallatinnewsexaminer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/NEWS07/610130410

A rare drug-resistant bacteria is becoming more common in areahospitals, due in part to military personnel bringing it home from Iraq, local health experts believe.

The bacteria, Acinetobacter baumannii, is not a threat to healthy people. However, officials say it can be dangerous for people who are already ill and have weak immune systems, because it causes wound infections, pneumonia and bloodstream infections that can lead to death.

Health experts don't know how much returning soldiers contribute to the bacteria's spread. But they all agree the bacteria is spreading.

"It's been on the increase everywhere," said Dr. Juli Horton, an infectious disease physician at Centennial Medical Center. "It's probably going to be something that we'll hear more and more about."

Dr. Tom Talbot, chief hospital epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says just a few years ago the bacteria was detected among patients there once or twice a year. Today the hospital is seeing it once a month or more.

[DemBones DemBones]

3. I have seen reports of this in regular U.S. news media.

It's been some time ago, when the problem first appeared, that it was publicized. I don't think there is a cover-up; it just is a story that hasn't caught the media's attention since it doesn't involve sex and/or celebrities.