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I've seen one speculation, on a site of doubtful credibility, that the outbreak could be connected to nearby Fort Rucker, which presumably sees some traffic to and from various Middle East countries. But so do many other US military bases, so why would southeast Alabama be the only region to see an outbreak of undiagnosed respiratory disease?
Source
On February 19, 2013 Tyler Budro (Craigan) of Daisetta in nearby Liberty County picked her son Tyler from school after the nurse called advising Tyler had a fever and thinking it could have been Mono.
The next day the fever continued to rise and Tyler’s family took him to the doctor at which point he tested positive for Mono.
On Thursday, February 21st they took him to another clinic as he hadn’t improved. ‘ On Friday February 22, Tyler’s father came home in the afternoon to find him on the floor in seizures. He immediately put him in his vehicle and started for Baptist Hospital in Beaumont again. Halfway there he was met by an ambulance as the seizures hadn’t stopped. That was the last time Tyler was conscious.
Once there he was admitted and then sent to Hermann Hospital in Houston.
Doctors were baffled by his condition \mono is not known to attack the brain as in Tyler’s case. . He once again tested positive for Mono but the symptoms were not that of Mono as . The seizures did slow after heavy medication. The swelling of the brain did not slow. Doctors had to remove more of the skull than they would a trauma patient to ease the pressure of the swelling brain.
Tyler was a football player and sportsman. In November on a hunting trip he shot a pig and then found a small one and brought it home, making a pen for it. Doctors even looked at that as a source but still nothing. Cat Scratch Fever and negative results.
Tyler passed away March 10th on the sixteenth day. Every day since then Tyler’s mother Janie has called the Harris County Medical Examiners Office for autopsy results and is told some of the tests could take months and nothing is back yet. She said she needed closure to know what caused her sons death.
Katie Rios died on April 29th, 2013
Katie's Story: One week ago, on 4/11/13, a beautiful healthy 17 year old girl came down with symptoms of the flu. She had fever, body aches, malaise and it stood to reason that Katie had the flu as there was a known diagnosis of the flu in the immediate family just a few days earlier. She seemed to be improving by the 2nd day and was out and about being a normal teenage girl but that 3rd day she woke up again with the same symptoms. She took her daughter to the doctor where she was diagnosed with the flu/strep and was told she was a bit dehydrated and might want to consider going to the ER for IV fluids if she didn't feel Katie would be able to keep herself hydrated enough while fighting strep/flu. Her mom took one look at her and said might is not an option. Every mother knows when their child isn't their usual self and she took her straight to the ER. What happened in the next few hours is every parents worse nightmare.
In the ER, her fever had finally gone down after receiving fluids and her vital signs were holding steady but a few of her lab values were off so they admitted her for observation and to rehydrate her. She was not on the pediatric floor for very long before she began to have new onset seizures without fever. She was quickly transferred to Texas Children's Hospital. On arrival to TCH, she began to seize uncontrollably and was put on a ventilator. Her seizures became longer and more extensive and after exhausting all efforts to control the seizures, the doctors had no choice but to medically induce a coma. Testing revealed swelling in her brain and pneumonia. The doctors are leaving no stone unturned because they want to know more than ever how this perfectly healthy girl went from having the flu to being on life support in a matter of days. They are running every test possible but still no answers. She is on so many medications to keep her stable that her organs are starting to fail in the process. Hope is not lost though and the doctors are not giving up.
Originally posted by quedup
Scary stuff - I wonder when they released this one!
You're on to it -
S&Fedit on 22-5-2013 by quedup because: (no reason given)
Source
A little over a month ago B.J Crawford, a New Caney High School student began feeling sick. For almost a week it persisted, vomiting and diarrhea and fever. He finally told his father about it and was taken to the doctor.
Then on the same day Katie got sick B.J. Crawford was taken from class by MCHD after his fever spiked and his blood pressure dropped. He was transported to Kingwood Hospital and within hours was transferred to Texas Children’s. His symptom’s closely resemble the other cases except for the fact he has not had any seizures. He was friends with Katie Rios.
He has not been placed into a medically induced coma but doctors are wanting to biopsy his lungs. However he is to medically fragile for this procedure. They do know there is a major infection in his lungs. He is very week and on dialysis.
Yesterday his mother Kim Cutler tried to communicate with him but as much as he tried he was unable to speak. Only mumbling which then affected his breathing. He pointed to his cell phone and after his mother handed it to him he attempted to text her a message but his fingers were too weak. He then took a picture pad and pointed to a heart as a tear rolled out of his eye. When Kim asked if he was trying to tell her he loved her, he nodded yes.
Today his lungs have totally given out and he is now on life support. Several different types of doctors from all over are meeting to discuss the possibility of doing a bone marrow test…the risk with the low platelets vs. the benefits of maybe an answer. They are looking for HLH a blood disease type of leukemia and starting him on chemo…but due to weakness that has been ruled out. His blood count is currently at 34 which on a normal person is 250.
Sourc e
Complications of their clinical course have included severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring mechanical ventilation , multi - organ failure, renal failure requiring dialysis , consumptive coagulopathy and pericarditis.
Originally posted by phantomjack
Originally posted by quedup
Scary stuff - I wonder when they released this one!
You're on to it -
S&Fedit on 22-5-2013 by quedup because: (no reason given)
Obama needed yet more of a smoke screen to divert from IRS, Benghazi, Fast n Furious, AP, Foxnews, and every other scandal he has going on right now.
Obama: "Hey, CDC? Need your help."
CDC: "Yes Mr. President"
Originally posted by phantomjack
Originally posted by quedup
Scary stuff - I wonder when they released this one!
You're on to it -
S&Fedit on 22-5-2013 by quedup because: (no reason given)
Obama needed yet more of a smoke screen to divert from IRS, Benghazi, Fast n Furious, AP, Foxnews, and every other scandal he has going on right now.
Obama: "Hey, CDC? Need your help."
CDC: "Yes Mr. President"
www.nytimes.com...
The Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Tex. Owned by Saudi Aramco and Shell, it is the largest in the United States.
Originally posted by MidnightTide
Posting to subscribe to this thread, will have to see if this continues to spread and they more information (such as a mortality rate and how well this reacts with treatment)
Link
Description:
Two people have died and five others have been hospitalized in a mysterious cluster of respiratory illnesses in southeast Alabama, state health officials said. The victims, all adults, had symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath, but the cause of the illnesses is unknown, said Dr. Mary McIntyre, the acting state epidemiologist for the Alabama Department of Public Health. The hospital is using respiratory precautions, which include requiring staff to wear special N95 masks that reduce the chance of infection. State health officials have collected and analyzed samples of specimens from all patients. So far, one sample has tested positive for H1N1 influenza A, but it's not clear that that is behind the unusual illnesses. There's no evidence of other kinds of flu, including the H7N9 strain that has caused illness and death in China, McIntyre said. Laboratory samples have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but testing results are not yet available, officials said. There's no evidence that any of the victims had a connection or traveled outside the country, which would have put them at risk for unusual pathogens, including a deadly new coronavirus recently christened MERS or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. "At this point it's too early to tell," McIntyre told NBC News. "That's why we called it a respiratory illness of unknown origin." State and federal health officials will continue to investigate the illnesses.
Biohazard name:
Unidentified respiratory illness (fatal)
Biohazard level:
4/4 Hazardous