CDC: New respiratory bug has killed 10

[lligrd]

Source: Associated Press

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer
47 minutes ago

ATLANTA - A mutated version of a common cold virus has caused 10 deaths in the last 18 months, U.S. health officials said Thursday. Adenoviruses usually cause respiratory infections that aren't considered lethal. But a new variant has caused at least 140 illnesses in New York, Oregon, Washington and Texas, according to a report issued Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC officials don't consider the mutation to be a cause for alarm for most people, and they're not recommending any new precautions for the general public.

"It's an uncommon infection," said Dr. Larry Anderson, a CDC epidemiologist.

The illness made headlines in Texas earlier this year, when a so-called boot camp flu sickened hundreds at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The most serious cases were blamed on the emerging virus and one 19-year-old trainee died.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_he_me/deadly_virus;_ylt=AkcBYt76zbfWE5ClP9RKG6es0NUE

[cutlassmama]

1. Nice! I have Adenovirus right now.

[lligrd]

2. Join The Crowd

Let's just hope we don't have "the" strain.

[Hissyspit]

4. I think that's what I'm just getting over. n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. We caught something really bad last month...

Boss, co-worker and I. Totally wiped us out, co-worker ended up with pneumonia.
Wouldn't surprise me if it was this strain, I haven't been that sick in years.

[TomClash]

3. Are some people playing with bioweapons again?

Or is this just a normal migration to a more resistant strain?

[AngryAmish]

6. What do the evolution deniers say about this?

[distantearlywarning]

7. Great! I have a really bad cold right now!

Reading this article makes me feel so much better this morning. :sarcasm:

[fed-up]

8. isn't that what OMC's wife died from? nt

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. I don't know

I do know she was going through chemotherapy. Which does a nasty number on your immune system and can cause a person to not be able to fend off a simple virus.

[fed-up]

10. I remember OMC saying she had an adenovirus, then pneunomia on top of the cancer nt

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. Andenoviruses aren't really uncommon

They're the origins of many "common colds" and pneumonia. Most people can fight them off but a person with immune system weakness is at a greater risk of severe complications.

I'm not saying that OMC's wife did or didn't have this specific new strain, simply that for someone on chemotherapy it wouldn't have be this new strain for it to become serious.

[Javaman]

11. Okay, the question that needs to be asked now is:

what drug do they recommend to "combat" this new bug and who in the administration* owns it's stock?

[Trillo]

15. There's plenty of information online,

but I'm not a doctor, so I suggest you do your own research.

For the virus itself, there appears no treatment, but there was allegedly a vaccine that was available in the past to the military only, but supposedly it's no longer available.

Those who have died primarily appear to have had secondary infections of sorts (yes, I'm self-censoring). There is no one treatment for these, treating the secondaries appears as 'art' backed up by scientific research.

What I find curious about this news item is that just a few weeks ago I noted both flu shots and pneumonia shots available at one of the stores I frequent, and as we may recall, non-availability of those vaccines have been a big issue in past B*shCo years. Having had either of those vaccines available this year likely would not have helped with this virus, since protection against Adenovirus Serotype 14 allegedly isn't available in vaccine form, though whether the shots that were available this year would have helped in more general immune system boosting ways for the secondary infections could likely be debated.

Now that I wrote that last paragraph out, the timeline is curious. This outbreak is claimed to have been known about by the medical community for 18 months or thereabouts, and the vaccines were offered in our area in the last few weeks. With so much lead time, why didn't the vaccines include this "unusual" serotype, since it was known about so many months in advance?

Perhaps its more profitable treating than preventing, and perhaps we're being "studied" in mass medical/scientific/genotype experiments. :tinfoilhat:

[Eurobabe]

12. Great, maybe I should get a mask

for the plane? :scared:

[Orsino]

14. Good thing colds aren't contagious.

No worries.

[TalkingDog]

16. The spousal unit has had this for the past month. And he's one of the lucky ones.

It started as a cold. A one day thing. He was in bed for a day and while he still felt "under the weather" it wasn't enough to waylay him.

Then he went to Pittsburgh for a few days where it really kicked in. Luckily for me, because when he gets "it" I get it worse. So far, I've been okay.

The coughing got worse and worse. But the sputum was clear. I made him keep checking. I was giving him stuff to help keep it moving, along with Zinc and he was slathering Vick's everywhere that didn't burn. He would resort to hot showers in the middle of the night so he could breathe.

Then one night a little over a week ago, the sputum had little flecks of yellow. I thought: He's getting or gotten pneumonia. I told him we were going to the Dr. that Friday. On Wednesday about midnight I was getting ready for bed and I heard him hop up and run into the bathroom coughing.

I poked my head in to see if he was okay, saw what was in the sink and started gagging.

But after that he kept saying how much better he felt. And even on Thursday he sounded better and was much more perky. Since then it's been a steady improvement. Then I read this story from the CDC a couple of days ago and just about wet myself.

Other folks we know have been on 2 or 3 courses of anti-biotics. And they are still struggling.

Scary shit.


My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[Trillo]

17. My research indicated this illness tends to hit males harder than females,

and it hits smokers hardest.

edit: I was disappointed to note that research studies didn't sort for those with tonsils versus those without.

[TalkingDog]

18. He quit smoking years ago. Long before he met me. He also quit his tonsils.

Me, I have no appendix....

So, I guess it works out.

My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[grasswire]

19. was just sick for three weeks, and am in one of those states

I rarely get sick. This one, which I attributed to sinus infection for lack of any other dx, caused me to lose 11 pounds and endure fatigue, afternoon sweats/chills, malaise. No coughing, thank God.

They may be underestimating the impact of this bug, if ill people don't know it exists and can't consider it as a possible dx.