BREAKING: Anthrax case possible in VIRGINIA

AP Breaking ^ | 10/09/01

[cgk]

Elsewhere, a state official in Virginia confirmed that health officials there were monitoring a possible case of anthrax at a northern Virginia hospital.

Prince William Hospital in Manassas, Va., contacted the state health department with a possible anthrax diagnosis, "one of several possible diagnoses" for the victim, whose name was not released, said M. Boyd Marcus, Gov. Jim Gilmore's chief of staff. He said a germ culture from the victim was transported to a state laboratory in Richmond on Monday evening and would take at least 24 hours to analyze.

The state government was told that the Virginia victim had either been an employee of or a contractor for The Sun, Marcus said. He had no details, and he said it wasn't known whether the victim had been in Florida of late or had had direct contact with Blanco or Stevens.

[bonesmccoy]

It's both. The treatment is established because outfits like USAMRID figured it out. They can also culture the germ and try out different antibiotics in vitro.

[stlnative]

Ahem... may I point out that, if I read this article correctly, there are perhaps four cases... note mention of another possible down in Florida...

It remained unclear yesterday whether all of the many other patients that CDC investigators have been screening in hospitals in the Lantana area had proven to be free of anthrax. On Friday, an official close to the investigation had said that a third person -- an employee who worked in the AMI building but not for the Sun -- was in a Miami area hospital and was being investigated as a possible anthrax case. That person was not mentioned in yesterday's briefings.

In Prince William County, Jared Florance, the county's health director, said last night that his agency was "investigating" what disease the Northern Virginia man may have contracted. The man's name was not released.

It looks like you are correct that there may be as many as 4 case related to the AMI Building so far.

[PRND21]

Go take some Cipro. It's 500 mg twice per day.

But you said he should wait til it's too late, remember?

[bonesmccoy]

What's with you pal?

[Don Joe]

If we're going to be accurate, then let's be accurate, shall we?

The second person had a pre-symptomatic case. They got a culture out of him, which means he was carrying the disease. If they caught it in time, they can treat him.

[ET(end tyranny)]

You're right! I forgot about the other 'possible' in Florida.

[Don Joe]

I'm not gonna go point by point on your theory, because it's wrong. It's not a communicable disease. Do a web search for pete's sake! This is not uncharted territory.

[NixNatAVanG InDaBurgh]

DUDE!!!,
I never said that. Never said a damn thing about keyboards. The skivvy is that they opened an envelope with a powdery substance in it that they both handled. Take it easy, man. I know you can't catch it from a sneeze, but don't jump down my throat for something you think I might have said. I believe it was in a later post that hyposthesis was brought forward. Originally, and long before this thread, I thought it might have been laced in with cocaine or some other inhaled drug, maybe from a nasal spray or inhaler... something like that. It must be inhaled directly. Do you always insinuate that people are dodos when YOU get confused?

[Don Joe]

"Do you know about transmission by ingestion of infected animals? Now that I asked it, throw in the other likely pathogens. It would seem useful information."

I believe there is a type of infection that can take place in the digestive tract, but to be honest, I wasn't paying attention when I was poring through my web-search research; I was only concerned with the inhalation type, because that's the type that's used as a munition. I'd think there'd be plenty of material available on it via a short haul to Altavista, though.

[Giddyupgo]

I noticed you signed up today.....A Hearty Welcome! to FR.

[bonesmccoy]

some bacteria can create spores. Spores are surrounded by a crystalline shell that is very resistent to environmental changes. In fact, on Apollo 12, the crew retrieved a piece of a Surveyor lunar lander. Microbiologists were able to identify some bacterial spores on the lander (the spores went to the moon on the unmanned lunar lander and then took a ride home on the retrieved equipment on the Apollo flight). So spores are a remarkably strong way that the germ can survive.

Spores are not an active form of the germ. The spore has to germinate back into the bacteria. I'm not a bacteriologist so I can't tell you how long it takes for anthrax to convert. This rate of conversion is probably linked to the incubation time and the severity of illness.

If you're pretty strong and your exposure is limited, then you'll fight off the germ. But, I doubt anyone has been able to quantify this. To do so would require a human experiment and I doubt there are volunteers.

[stlnative]

PLEASE TAKE YOUR ARGUMENT PRIVATELY See the PRIVATE REPLY BUTTONS???

[bonesmccoy]

In reviewing the product info for Ciprofloxacin, the FDA suggestion is 60 days of post-exposure prophyllaxis.

That's alot of pills. If you weren't exposed and you don't take the meds right, we'll all be decreasing the utility of Cipro in the long-haul. Why? Because the more a population uses an antibiotic, the more likely it is that the germs will develop resistance.

Good night all. God bless you and God bless America.

[Roger_g]

I don't understand how anthrax can't be communicable. Bear with my logic, but say you have the spores or bacteria in your nasal passages and you sneeze. If the bacteria or spores are dislodged and sprayed by your sneeze are they no longer communicable because they have been in your nasal passage for hours/days? Do the spores become bacteria immediately upon inhalation and are at that point only deadly to host? The nasal swab on mailroom worker revealed anthrax "spores". This was some time after exposure. The spores had not yet evolved into the bacteria.

Your logic is fine, except for a couple elements you didn't keep into account: spore count (it takes several thousands to infect someone) and the tendency of spores to lodge into whatever they land on. Once lodged they're presumedly hard to dislodge in significant amounts, since they're so small that just about anything is "porous" at that scale. That's why anthrax aerosol is dangerous whereas one can be a woolworker for years and not catch anything. The above is my understanding after reading the CDC report, see this other thread for the links and more info.

[ET(end tyranny)]

1). ALL people are not arguing.
2). If the arguement is taken to private reply, then how are the rest of the readers to know what the final outcome is? Who was right, who was wrong? Sometimes people can learn from arguements. jmo

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

In a related story, the heavy metal band "Anthrax" has cancelled the rest of their tour for the year.

[not-an-ostrich]

Thank you Roger_g for reply regarding quantity is key.

[Musket]

Nuke'in these bastards ain't gonna work-THEY'RE HERE!!! So, as I said weeks ago, all Arabs MUST LEAVE NOW!!! THEN nuke the appropriate countries.

[Gracey]

You sure know how to rant and rave. The doctor here said the same thing as the docs on TV have been saying. YOU DON'T TAKE THE VIRUS unless for good reason.

You owe the doc an apology.

[Gracey]

the heavy metal band "Anthrax" has cancelled the rest of their tour for the year.

Is this for real??? LOL