Reply #27: "236 cases in just two months"

[rainbow4321]

Last article being the scariest.."monitored on a state level, ignored on the national level"...236 cases in 2 months.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5345a1.htm

During January 1, 2002--August 31, 2004, military health officials identified 102 patients with blood cultures that grew A. baumannii at military medical facilities treating service members injured in Afghanistan and the Iraq/Kuwait region.
All of these cases met the criteria for A. baumannii bloodstream infection on the basis of criteria established by CDC's National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance (NNIS) system (2). Of these 102 cases, 85 (83%) were associated with activities during OIF and OEF. Most of the infections were reported from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), Germany (33 patients: 32 OIF/OEF casualties, one non-OIF/OEF), and Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), District of Columbia (45 patients: 29 OIF/OEF casualties, 16 non-OIF/OEF). In both facilities, the number of patients with A. baumannii bloodstream infections in 2003 and 2004 exceeded those reported in previous years (one case during 2000--2002 at LRMC; two cases during 2001--2002 at WRAMC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acinetobacter_baumannii

Species of the genus Acinetobacter, except some of the A. lwoffii strain, grow very well on MacConkey agar (without salt). Most Acinetobacters are infectious, and the strain A. baumannii is the most common nosocomial infection in health care centers and military medical facilities. A. baumannii can cause infections including skin and wound infections and pneumonia. It also causes meningitis, but A. lwoffi is mostly responsible for that. A. baumannii can live on human skin or dry surfaces for weeks

Since the start of the Iraq War, over 300 cases of A. baumannii had infected U.S. soldiers in the Middle East. At least five have died.

Ethanol has been found to stimulate the virulence of A. baumannii.<1> Tests on infected nematode worms dosed with ethanol found that the worms laid fewer eggs and their life spans were only 80% of worms infected with a non-ethanol responsive strain of A. baumannii, suggesting the common misconception that drinking alcohol kills infections is false and drinking alcohol may actually help the infection's spread

http://www.acinetobacter.org /


Early this year a outbreak of MDR Acinetobacter Baumannii swept over Arizona. 236 cases in just two months. It was reported by the state disease monitoring systems, but ignored on the national level.

Now dubbed "Supergerms", they spread without warning and seemingly without official notices since they are infections instead of diseases. A mere technicality that for some reason the government is taking advantage of in the military.

A nurse at Bethesda in Washington DC left with a lung infection. She went to a civilian hospital were it was learned this was Acinetobacter Baumannii. She succumbed to the infection quickly and with no fan fare. The story went silent.

In Brooks hospital in Texas a soldier fights for his life as his combat wounds are made worse by infections the doctors cant seem to handle. The only reason his story is known is the girl friend speaks for him since the staff want this quiet.