Posted on 10/09/2001 12:15:18 AM PDT by 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.
At least we still have the 'symbol' element with "American Media" (not unlike American Airlines and United).
Sure, "Doc", why not.
"If you haven't been exposed to middle eastern guys with powder coming from their mail, why are you so panicked?"
There you go again with the ad homs, trying to smear me, trying to spin, trying to assert that I'm "panicked".
I'm pissed, yeah. But not panicked.
Let's put this into perpective, shall we?
Tonight, my wife came racing into my office, in a bit of a panic, because she heard a voice crackling over a two-way radio outside the bedroom window.
Since we live in a very rural area -- but one that's sadly offered us more than a bit of criminal activity -- I chambered a round into my .45, and walked out the front door.
I ordered whoever was there to identify himself. No one replied. I repeated my demand. No reply.
I then fired off two rounds in rapid succession, and listened for the sound of s#it filling someone's trousers, the sound of feet doing their stuff, the sound of a car door slamming, or, the sound of some dumf*k yelling DON'T SHOOT!
I heard nothing, so I presumed that there was no one there, so I went back inside, removed the magazine, unchambered the round, and sat down to resume what I was doing on my computer (reading FR).
As I sat down, my wife walked to the doorway, and the lights went out, and the computer shut down.
I said "Turn the switch back on, argh!" (We just relocated my office from a room where the wall lightswitch turned off everything, including the computer, so my comment was reflexive.)
She said "I didn't hit the switch!"
I then looked, and saw that the power was off for the entire house.
I said "The power is out."
She said, "I'm scared now." At that point, she was in more than "a bit" of a panic.
I turned on my penlight, found my gun, stuffed the loose round into the magazine, loaded, chambered, and headed for the door. I told her "Call 911." She was in a pretty bad panic, and stammered something. I then barked out "Call 911 NOW!" and headed out the door.
I surveyed the area, went up to the road, looked up and down, nothing.
My assessment at that time was leaning toward "weird coincidence".
The police told her that they had reports of power out on our road, but they came in about 20 minutes prior to our power going out. They thought that maybe she heard the radio from the electric utility's truck. She said she was still scared, so they said they'd send someone out to look around.
We went back inside, and a couple of minutes later, the power came back on. She called back, and told them not to bother coming out.
My final analysis was that the power company truck was probably driving down the road, looking for a problem with the power lines. Their radio caught a squawk as they passed by that end of our house, and by the time she came to the end I was in, and I'd loaded up and made it to the front door, they were far down the road. Then, they found the problem, and in order to fix it, they had to shut down power to our part of the road. That's the only conclusion I can come up with that matches the evidence.
So OK, let's talk panic. I watched it up close tonight. I'd never seen her in that state before.
Now, let's talk "me".
I was facing the potential of a very real threat. Sounds outside, late at night (about 1 AM), in the middle of nowhere, closest neighbor a half mile away, police response time maybe a half hour. A classic case of "on my own".
Now, along comes "Doctor" I-just-signed-up-today-and-I'm-gonna-set-you-all-straight, and informs me that news reports of something I'll never encounter -- something that I have absolutely zero likelihood of experiencing -- has somehow reduced me to a quivering pile of "panicked" jello?
Hey, "Doc" -- can you guess who's laughing at who now?
While you're at it, can you guess how many fingers I'm holding up?
Guess.
Sheesh, whutta putz, I swear...
from: ANTHRAX APPROVED BY FDA
To be effective, experts said, Cipro would have to be taken by exposed patients before symptoms appear. Once the fever, chills, rash and respiratory congestion start, there is little than can be done, researchers said. This means that once it is known there has been a release of anthrax spores, people will, within hours, have to take an antibiotic, the experts said.
from: FDA & Cipro's Approval for Inhalation Anthrax
Because of concerns about long-term safety, including effects on cartilage, until now, Cipro was not approved for any indication in the pediatric population. However, because inhalational anthrax is lethal, the risk-benefit assessment indicates that use of Cipro for this indication in pediatric patients is appropriate. Studies are currently under way to evaluate long-term safety, including effects on cartilage, in pediatric patients.
The recommended adult dose of Cipro® for post-exposure inhalational anthrax is 500 milligrams given orally twice a day. The recommended pediatric dose of Cipro® for post-exposure inhalational anthrax is 15 mg/kg given orally twice a day. The adult intravenous dose is 400 mg twice a day; the pediatric intravenous dose is 10 mg/kg twice a day. Treatment with ciprofloxacin should begin as soon as possible after exposure. The Drug should be administered for a total of 60 days
As a parent, and as I see fellow FReepers talking about stockpiling Cipro, thought this was important seeing how you can now buy it on the internet without a prescription.
Stay safe,
Mrs Kus
Oops, you're right! That post was to you, not by you. I shoulda looked twice and shot once. :)
I apologize for the friendly fire. :)
My dear, I am not inclined to take a virus under any circumstances.
Now, as to the antibiotic that's used to treat the anthrax bacteria, I assure you that he is not giving the standard advice.
If you take it when you suspect exposure, or failing that, when you test positive for the disease prior to exhibiting any symptoms, then you stand a very good chance of survival.
But, if you wait -- as the "doctor" urges -- until you show symptoms of the disease, then you are most likely going to die, treated or not.
In fact, in discussion with my brother inlaw (a West Point grad former Army Captain) earlier this evening, he showed me some treatment suggestions (IIRC, they were from a military manual) for how to deal with a mass attack of anthrax. The suggestion he pointed out was one that said that available antibiotics should only be given to those who were still asymptomatic. There was no benefit to be gained by treating those who were already showing symptoms of the disease. In other words, triage.
"You owe the doc an apology."
You know him? You know he's a doctor? Amazing.
No, I don't owe him anything more than my continued willingness to hold his feet to the fire.
You see, I don't want him to get any of you killed.
Judging from your logic, Dr. Member Since Today, I have sincere doubts. Where did you get your medical degree? By the time symptoms are obvious, it is borderline too late. Sufficient inhaled anthrax sans treatment with antibiotics = death. Any other great money-saving ideas?
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