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Texas man loses both arms, part of his feet after a single flea bite
NY Post ^ | July 22, 2023 | Katherine Donlevy

Posted on 07/25/2023 4:27:26 PM PDT by Twotone

A single flea bite has cost a Texas man both of his arms and part of his feet, his family said.

Michael Kohlhof was rushed to a San Antonio emergency room last month after losing feeling in his toes and suffering from what his family initially believed to be severe flu symptoms, his mother wrote in a GoFundMe.

Soon after, the 35-year-old man went into septic shock and was rushed into the ICU.

Within 24 hours, Kohlhof was put on a ventilator, dialysis, antibiotics, vasopressors and numerous IV medications to keep him alive as his organs began rapidly failing.

“By the end of June 20, I was told to call immediate family to come from all parts of the country to say their goodbyes,” mom J’Leene Hardaway wrote.

Kohlhof’s brother Greg told KENS5 that his sibling “almost died once or twice.

“They were worried about him being brain dead,” Greg said.

It took another 11 days of intense medical assistance, but Kohlhof miraculously pulled through and was taken off the ventilator and sedation on July 1 — but not without severe physical consequences.

According to Hardaway, Kohlhof’s hands and feet developed dry gangrene as a result of the vasopressor treatment — one of the many medications that saved his life.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: texas; typhus
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To: null and void
Fleas Navidad, Fleas Navidad...

Jose says; "No bueno".

41 posted on 07/25/2023 6:37:45 PM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (⭐⭐To the Left, The Truth is Right Wing Violence⭐⭐)
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To: MD Expat in PA
but they are not found in NJ...

I bet they are...

42 posted on 07/25/2023 6:43:43 PM PDT by vetvetdoug
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To: Twotone
According to Hardaway, Kohlhof’s hands and feet developed dry gangrene as a result of the vasopressor treatment — one of the many medications that saved his life.

That's one helluva "lifesaving" treatment.

If you're going to take my hands and feet, just put a bullet in my head and save my family the burden of taking care of me.

43 posted on 07/25/2023 6:47:00 PM PDT by Drew68 (Ron DeSantis for President. A conservative who fights and wins.)
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To: little jeremiah

Really?

I got lucky!


44 posted on 07/25/2023 6:57:03 PM PDT by thinden (buckle up ....)
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To: Twotone
hands and feet developed dry gangrene as a result of the vasopressor treatment

the vasopressor treatment did him in - not the flea bite

45 posted on 07/25/2023 7:00:39 PM PDT by SisterK (it's controlled demolition)
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To: KamperKen
A very effective treatment for sepsis is a vitamin C drip. I notice that was not tried.

medical malpractice is a leading cause of death in the United States

46 posted on 07/25/2023 7:03:57 PM PDT by SisterK (it's controlled demolition)
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To: TangoLimaSierra

Jose Fleasíano?


47 posted on 07/25/2023 7:04:43 PM PDT by null and void (Intelligence has limits, while gullibility doesn't. ~ SunkenCiv)
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To: Fai Mao

Libs are the ones who are bringing the fleas. Just don’t come to Texas if you are a liberal.


48 posted on 07/25/2023 7:12:40 PM PDT by scottiemom (As a retired Texas public school teacher, I highly recommend private school. Written in 2015.)
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To: iontheball
Ivermectin is a wonder drug

indeed!
covid, cancer, lyme disease....

49 posted on 07/25/2023 7:13:33 PM PDT by SisterK (it's controlled demolition)
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To: Spacetrucker

Some infections can really turn deadly fast. This one, for example (though it dwells on the coach and not his deceased son-in-law.):

https://thesouthern.com/hinson-struggling-to-cope-with-family-tragedy/article_6f1991ca-9844-5819-82b0-110c32257b32.html


50 posted on 07/25/2023 7:18:58 PM PDT by Paul R. (You know your pullets are dumb if they don't recognize a half Whopper as food!)
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To: null and void
Jose Fleasíano?

"Ar ar ar" - Mork

51 posted on 07/25/2023 7:30:18 PM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (⭐⭐To the Left, The Truth is Right Wing Violence⭐⭐)
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To: KamperKen

Not much money it?


52 posted on 07/25/2023 7:54:10 PM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (D.I.S.T.R.A.C.T.I.O.N.S.)
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To: TribalPrincess2U

“Not much money it?”

That seems to be the problem. Like Ivermectin and HCQ there’s not much money in it.


53 posted on 07/25/2023 7:56:30 PM PDT by KamperKen (u)
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To: MD Expat in PA
They thought perhaps he had been bitten by a spider. Brown Recluse spiders can cause this, but they are not found in NJ so they were unsure how or from what he got infection but were pretty sure it was from a spider bite.

MRSA. Nasty stuff. I had it years ago, and I went to several doctors who all proclaimed it a "spider bite."

The spot would become inflamed, develop into a boil that would grow as large as a baseball and be very hard and painful. I would suffer through days of fever and misery and eventually it would get better. It would reoccur ever so often and after the third bout with it I went to another doctor who was an old friend. (fifth doctor I had seen) He took one look at it and said "Staph infection. You better hope it isn't MRSA, because that's stuff is bad and hard to get rid of."

"We'll take a sample and send it to the lab, and they will tell us what it is."

It was MRSA, but they found it could be treated with a particular anti-biotic, and so that's what happened. Haven't had a bout with it since then, but it kept trying to get a rot started in my flesh, but my immune system kept managing to fight it off.

MRSA is community wide in some places.

54 posted on 07/25/2023 7:59:13 PM PDT by DiogenesLamp ("of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty.")
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To: thinden

Horrible. I had no clue. So fleas all of a sudden can carry TYPHUS?


55 posted on 07/25/2023 8:01:17 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Never worry about anything. Worry never solved any problem or moved any stone.)
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To: thinden

We have fleas hopping around outside because of squirrels. DH gets flea bites sometimes, let me look up. Hmm, this unforunate young man was certainly unlucky. Maybe he was mis-treated? Why did he have such horrible complications?

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/typhus

any of various bacterial diseases caused by rickettsias: such as
a
: a severe human febrile disease that is caused by one (Rickettsia prowazekii) transmitted especially by body lice and is marked by high fever, stupor alternating with delirium, intense headache, and a dark red rash

https://www.britannica.com/science/typhus
typhus, series of acute infectious diseases that appear with a sudden onset of headache, chills, fever, and general pains, proceed on the third to fifth day with a rash and toxemia (toxic substances in the blood), and terminate after two to three weeks. Typhus (actually not one illness but a group of closely related diseases) is caused by different species of rickettsia bacteria that are transmitted to humans by lice, fleas, mites, or ticks. The insects are carried person to person or are brought to people by rodents, cattle, and other animals. The most important form of typhus has been epidemic typhus (borne by lice). Other forms are murine, or endemic, typhus (flea-borne); scrub typhus, or tsutsugamushi disease (mite-borne); and tick-borne typhus.

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-typhus
Typhus is a disease caused by rickettsia or orientia bacteria. You can get it from infected mites, fleas, or lice.

Modern hygiene has mostly stopped typhus, but it can still happen in places where basic sanitation is bad or if it gets passed on by an infected animal.

There are three main kinds of typhus, each caused by different bacteria.

Murine typhus is passed by fleas to people if the fleas bite infected animals, mainly rats. Most U.S. cases have been reported in California, Hawaii, and Texas.

Epidemic typhus is a rare variety spread by infected body lice. It’s unlikely to happen outside of extremely crowded living conditions. One type of epidemic typhus can be spread by infected flying squirrels. But it, too, is very rare.
Scrub typhus is spread by infected chiggers, or mites, mainly found in rural parts of Southeast Asia, China, Japan, India, and northern Australia.

Doctors can easily treat all three kinds of typhus with antibiotics. But they can cause serious illness, so get treatment right away if you think you might have been exposed to it.

Typhus Treatment
The most effective therapy for all three kinds of typhus is the antibiotic doxycycline.

A single dose of doxycycline has proved effective against epidemic typhus. Doxycycline also works quickly on other strains of the disease.
For the best results, you should take it as soon as possible after your symptoms start.
If you’re allergic to doxycycline or if it doesn’t work, doctors may choose another antibiotic such as ciprofloxacin (Cipro).


56 posted on 07/25/2023 8:08:01 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Never worry about anything. Worry never solved any problem or moved any stone.)
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To: thinden

Maybe he had some horrible allergy to flea bites?


57 posted on 07/25/2023 8:08:36 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Never worry about anything. Worry never solved any problem or moved any stone.)
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To: Twotone

Here in northeast Oklahoma, fleas are really bad this year.


58 posted on 07/25/2023 8:27:32 PM PDT by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing))
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To: Twotone

A single flea bite?
I imagine there is more to this story.
BTW - was the flea divorced? Or just ….


59 posted on 07/25/2023 8:31:35 PM PDT by Honest Nigerian
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To: KamperKen

Can’t hurt. Might help.
I think people are still wearing masks because of that line of thinking.


60 posted on 07/25/2023 8:38:59 PM PDT by Honest Nigerian
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