UN Warns of Worldwide Threat from Killer Pneumonia

reuters.com ^ | Sat March 15, 2003 11:21 AM ET | Richard Waddington

[Jim Noble]

No, not at all.

Viral infections suppress neutrophils (bacteria killing cells) so that more lymphocytes (virus killing cells) can be produced.

There are naturally fewer lymphocytes than neutrophils, so the WBC falls.

It's normal and healthy.

[LurkedLongEnough]

ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes we all fall down.

CDC: A person usually becomes ill with bubonic plague 2 to 6 days after being infected.

When bubonic plague is left untreated, plague bacteria invade the bloodstream. As the plague bacteria multiply in the bloodstream, they spread rapidly throughout the body and cause a severe and often fatal condition. Infection of the lungs with the plague bacterium causes the pneumonic form of plague, a severe respiratory illness. The infected person may experience high fever, chills, cough, and breathing difficulty, etc.

[Judith Anne]

Bumping so I can follow this thread...

[octobersky]

The Stand was King's magnum opus

I agree! THE STAND was definitely King's best work. He was on top of his game when he wrote that one!

[Neuromancer]

Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 11:24:28 +0800 (CST) From: "Peter Chang, MD, MPH, ScD"
Official report by the CDC of Taiwan: Another Suspected Atypical Pneumonia Case in Taiwan - follow up report on 15 Mar 2003

---

Here in Taiwan, we have one more reported case of atypical pneumonia, this
64-year-old woman developed fever on 8 Mar 2003 about one week after traveling to Guandong (China) and Hong Kong. She was hospitalized on 13 Mar 2003 due to subsequent respiratory symptoms. Chest radiogram revealed an atypical pneumonia in the right lower lung. CDC Taiwan has reviewed the regular surveillance system for Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and complicated influenza cases. So far, there was no evidence of community spread except for the couple reported on 14 Mar 2003 [see ProMED-mail Acute respiratory syndrome - East Asia 20030314.0630]

We would appreciate any useful advice and assistance for pathogen investigation.
Peter Chang, MD, MPH, ScD
Advisor and Coordinator for Health Affairs for Tzay-Jinn Chen, M.D., M.P.H. Directer-General,
Center for Disease Control,
Department of Health,
Taiwan

[plusone]

Something seems wrong here. They say they don't know if it is a virus or a bacteria. But you can't catch a bacterial infection from someone, only a virus can be transmitted. But viral pneumonia is almost impossible to treat, antibiotics only work against bacteria. So which is it? You can't catch a bacteria, so it is probably not bacterial pneumonia, yet they say treatments are ineffective...but are there any treatments for viral pneumonia? Strange.

[MigrantOkie]

Some of us have been watching this for days now. My global prediction of under 72 hours was beaten by 24. Watch the West Coast due to traffic from Asia. Aerosol transmission is the real deal this is big and already in the airports. I will be flying in 11 hours and 45 minutes. No choice. If I wear a mask to an airport I will probably be arrested. Statistically a person to person chain of contact has already hit every airport in the world. BTW the origin would indicate natural mutation not terrorism, However this has all the earmarks of the pandemic we are due for. 1918 was 20 million, an equivalent for todays population has to be 100 million+, I'm probably overly pessimistic, but I don't like this one bit. Luckily we are better off than in 1918.

[djf]

In fact I believe TB is caused by a bacteria, and is highly contagious.

[Judith Anne]

Whoever told you that you couldn't catch a bacteria was very mistaken.

[plusone]

Yes, did a quick web search. TB is a highly contagious bacteria.

[blam]

"ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes we all fall down."

I always heard that it was "up stairs, down stairs, we all fall down."

A buddy of mine transferred to England and he told me that the up stairs, down stairs was a class thing. The very poorest lived on the ground level. That stuff did not recognise class and the up stairs and down stairs were affected equally.

[plusone]

Did some more digging. An airborne bacteria is difficult to catch, it takes repeated exporsures. So it would seem unlikely that you could catch bacterial pneumonia from someone with it by casual contact. A virus is much easier to catch, which is why this would seem to be viral pneumonia.

[twntaipan]

Are you referencing the 5 children who died in the Tidewater area of Virginia recently?

[ohmage]

Go to Dollar General and buy echnacea, an immune system stimulant. Keep parsley (boron...immune system stimulant) sage (makes you sweat) rosemary (antibiotic) and thyme (antibiotic) and gargle with salt water every night, LAST thing oyu do before going to bed should upper respiratory symptoms begin

Good advice.

FYI, there is a relatively new product out there that works to balance your immune system and is successfully addressing a whole range of immunological issues.

The information is found only on commercial sites so I'm not going to provide a link. If a product being listed in the Physicians Desk Reference is meaningful to you, this is.

If anyone wants to learn more about it, freep mail me and I'll send you the link. Tomorrow. I'm going to bed now.

[sbelew]

"Ah-choo, Ah-choo we all fall down" is one version I've heard as being "the original"

[sbelew]

"On Saturday, Toronto officials confirmed a seventh local case, a day after announcing that six family members had been infected, including a mother and son who died. "

That's a little worse than 0.16% - makes me wonder what the real numbers are in SE Asia.

[vikingchick]

I think so too.

[zeaal]

Stay away from crowds?

[bonesmccoy]

Not really.
Mycoplasma's "incubation period" is really difficult to identify. Mycoplasma chlamydia could be thought to have a very long incubation period because some victims do not show ANY signs of the infection. This means that a completely asymptomatic person can spread the disease to a sexual partner.

[bonesmccoy]

In another thread, I was posting information on Korean Hemorrhagic Virus, or Hantaan Virus/Hantavirus. This virus appears to really be a ubiquitous virus (often transmitted to humans from rat urine/dung which is aerosolized and breathed by troops in the fields).

Hantaan Virus is similar to the "four-corners" disease.

That disease killed a number of people during an outbreak in the late 1990's.