What is this contagious Illness?

The Drs. say it's not the flu, but it seems to start like a flu. It has been going around where I work since September and is still being passed around.

Some people are getting it and doing okay, but not shaking it for weeks or months. Many of these people seem to be still infectious to others. A lot of co-workers got it, finally stayed home to recoup, came back okay and then it rebounded to the point where they had to stay home again (there a week, out sick again, back a week, out sick again). Some, especially those with a prior history of Asthma are deteriorating to the point of hospitalization. One woman who got it in September has been in and out of the hospital since, and had a spinal tap hospitalization to remove excess fluid from the brain that they attribute to being caused by this illness from back in September (she hasn't been right since getting it).

I am hearing now the hospitals are full with people sufferring complications from this bug, and that it attacks everyone differently, seems to be where ever your weakness is (lungs, sinus, lymph glands), and I am hearing it's widespread in the country.

I work in the Daytona area and would like to know if others across the country are seeing this in their area and if they have anymore information. No one who catches it seems to recover completely in less than weeks and it does not respond to antibiotics.

Some people seem to be immune, but the latest woman who got it last week by being around two co-workers who were supppossedly recovering with it is in the hospital now.

Anyone know what I'm talking about? The most worrisome thing is that the Drs. at this point are saying they don't know exactly what this strain is or how to combat it. Usually when the flu hits my area, it runs through in about a month or two then is gone. This has been going on for close to 6 months and shows no signs of letting up on it's spread. I have been lucky so far, as have a few others, but as long as new people are still catching it, it has me very concerned. The amount of people going out with it is causing those of us who haven't gotten it to get really run down picking up the slack, surely compromising our defense of this thing.

I should explain that this is a good sized company encompassing 7 buildings on two streets and all offices and shops are being affected. Mnay are actually catching it outside of work (the kids are coming home with it and they haven't been near anyone infected at work).

Any thoughts or input appreciated.

Here's my thought. Check around other areas such as in Jacksonville or further down the A1A to see if locals there are experiencing the same or similar symptoms. If not and it's local to just your area in Daytona I would consider sources like the water or some sort of chemical spray. There are a bunch of links about localized "chemicals" that are let loose in certain areas that give people an array of symptoms and sicknesses.
Because most sickness present with flu like symptoms it's harder to pinpoint what exactly it could be.

However, given what you have described the ones that have already been infected should have built antibodies to whatever it is and hence not be reinfected. The fact that it's landing many in the hospital and that it seems to attack the lungs and sinuses lends one to believe it is airborne and is continued to be breathed and perhaps not a actual virus.

See if any papers in other areas are reporting this info. Good Luck!
I will try and find supporting links to try and help out.

I simply had to reply to your post because everything you've written is nearly identical to what people around where I live (including myself) have been saying. I live in Northern Florida area btw. The schools here have been severely affected by several bugs since about October. I think everyone in my family has taken a trip to the ER in the past four months! What I've heard is Strep and Rotovirus(spelling?) However, I've had strep before and this is nothing like it, unless there are a couple of different strands of it?

But you're right, whatever "it" is is very difficult to shake. No sooner as you begin to feel better you are hit again even worse.

I think what is happening is that there is a bacteria and a virus going around, and people are getting hit with both around the same time, so that's why it is difficult to combat with antibiotics or immune system alone. My advice to anyone is to drink lots of OJ, take some "One a Days" and rest as much as possible. I know one thing, here in the stores the shelves have been practically bare of cough and flu medicines, so that tells me that a lot of people in this area are sick.

I'll return if I get anymore info!

This is very odd guys. I live in Naples, FLORIDA. I think something is up. I was able to fight it off but i still have a lingering cough and congestion. I got sick nearly 3 weeks ago! My wife and daughter caght it as well, but unlike me they both had high fevers.

I work in an office with about 12 people. and all of us have had it to. No meds seemed to work, we all just had to fight it off with our own immune system.

The worst part was our lymphnods. They were the size of golf balls. and very painful.

I do wonder if there is a connection be it that we all live in Fl.

See any Chemtrails as of late?

Originally posted by Relentless

The Drs. say it's not the flu, but it seems to start like a flu.

...I am hearing now the hospitals are full with people sufferring complications from this bug, and that it attacks everyone differently, seems to be where ever your weakness is (lungs, sinus, lymph glands), and I am hearing it's widespread in the country.

Any thoughts or input appreciated.

Uh huh.

It hits connective tissue and smooth muscle in different locations in the body. It causes chronic illness. And it's everywhere - across the country and around the world.


Relentless - do you really want to know what I think? Or know?

OMG it must be Cooties! My friends told me girls would give me them one day.
j/k


Soficrow,
Bring it to the table....what DO you think and know?

Originally posted by soficrow

Relentless - do you really want to know what I think? Or know?

Yes Sofi, I'd like to know.

To the rest of you responding, you all seem to be in Florida, which I find odd, because I didn't flag it as a Florida thing (or didn't think I did). It was my understanding this is up and down the east coast, but now I'm starting to wonder - is it just Florida? I mentioned my location to see where else it was and expected reports from elsewhere.

The big question for me is have I just been lucky so far? I would think with all my health problems I would have caught it by now. I am hoping I'm immune for some reason, but I'm not taking any chances either.

Being in Atlanta, we have yet to have this come our way.
Perhaps it is a Fla. thing or maybe traveling up the East Coast states?
Sounds like the medical community is very confused by it..a spinal tap is sirius..Please keep us posted, and I will look around for any links.
Bless you and yours..

Spinal taps are pretty serious.I think you should go tell the CDC about this, maybe they know something.

[edit on 28-2-2006 by Senor_Vicente]

The woman who had the spinal tap to relieve pressure on the brain for too much fluid was one of the first ones to get it. It kicked in her asthma that she had under control for years. She had the procedure on Thursday and is still not back (even though it was just a day procedure).

The other woman in the hospital now seems to be going the same route. Asthma out of control, getting pumped up with cortisone and not getting better.

Others are not getting that bad, but they still don't shake it. I think whatever it is the Drs. are just guessing at what to do and may be making it worse for some, trying anything and everything to get people back under control (you can't believe the bag of pills some of them are walking around with). I think some of the scripts are amking it worse. Some get fevers, some don't. It has been different for everyone in some way shape or form.

I still want to hear that someone is seeing this somewhere else. It's been here too long to not have already traveled around if it were going to. I am really finding this odd. St. Augustine to Naples is a long way off, but it's still Florida. With all the tourists this time of year, I can't believe it's not elsewhere.

BUT - Bike Week is next week and for those of you who don't know Daytona and Bike Week, they come from all over the country by the hundreds of thousands for a week of hard partying and then go home. I can't imagine the implications if this thing is centered around Daytona.

Just a quick in-out - FYI - I am in central Canada and this thing is here too. Everyone is sick and can't get rid of it. I have been whacked out for about 2 months, with ongoing breathing problems and fatigue but no fever - my 15-year-old caught it, got very sick quite quickly, spiked at 104, coughing blood. Fortunately she responded immediately to basic antibiotics.

The woman who had the spinal tap to relieve pressure on the brain for too much fluid was one of the first ones to get it. It kicked in her asthma that she had under control for years. She had the procedure on Thursday and is still not back (even though it was just a day procedure).

Just brought back memories, one has to lay with giant sandbags on their legs for 24 hours, helpless.
Sounds like an ignored pandemic. What are your local newspapers saying?
I can try to contact the CDC, but they are very tight-lipped.
Nothing in our local papers..
Can you imagine 200,000 sick bikers?

Hi All

I am from North Western NC and its here in force, I had it a month ago and it still lingers in my sinus's, everyone I know has had it and most still have lingering affects from it. I saw a local news cast that said it was just the flu bug hitting a little harder this year, but I didn't buy it. I have noticed more chemtrails in the skies in my area lately.....maybe they're trying to thin us out.....

Well, this thread has stopped me in my tracks! I also work in an office enviorment and we seem to be going through the same thing as well. It started for us around early November and is carrying through today. I have a good friend of mine that I work with that actually gave up her job to be able to avoid being sick anylonger. My sister was hospitalized and also given a Spinaltap and her stay was approx. 4 days. Her kids got sick her husband, and it just seem's that there is something to this epidemic. I personally don't get sick very often, but this thing really wiped me out. I was sleeping 22hr's a day for 3 days straight. I believe there is really something to this situation, "Chem warfare" you think?

it might be an unrecognizable strain of flu, the common cold

or.....a genetically modified bug from the Biopreparat era that infects, is highly contagious, lies dormant (with subtle manifestations) for a while, for maximum spread (imagine how many people one person can come into contact with within a 5 month period)...Then a new agent is introduced: this one reacts with the effects of the latter bug, the effect is devastating. ive read about this in some old books on russian biowarfare (soviet era)

We've got something similar in South-Western Ontario - lots of seniors who travel to Florida around here. I haven't heard of anything really severe such as spinal taps but I know many who are fighting the fatigue. I've been fighting it on and off for about two months - barely make it through my day at the hospital and crash on the couch once home almost unable to move for at least a couple of hours and early to bed for 10 hours only to wake up exhausted. It might dissappear for a day, maybe two then back again. Many coworkers have the same problem but it hasn't been severe enough for me to be concerned - thought maybe it was extreme February blues and thought maybe March might end it.
What we are getting a lot, LOT of in hospital is patients with diarhea. One or two have expelled enough blood to require transfusions.

relentless, thanks.

I have a disease that often morphs into cancer. These past few days I have been wondering just a bit about that dreaded cra, just because I have been SO fatigued for so long. Now I hear it's going around, I suddenly feel much better about being sick.




Oh yeah, relentless - I think it's bird flu. I could go through the molecular stuff, symptoms etc and talk about fibroblasts, myofibroblasts, connective tissue and smooth muscle - but it's boring and you've heard it all before anyway.

The Good News: Fatality rates this season are lower than expected, likely related to a lower level of exposure - and hopefully will provide immunities for the next go-round.

The Bad News: It's chronic. It likely will recur and progress over time. Hopefully the rate of progression will be quite slow -decades- in most people.

Such wonderful positive attitudes here - from secret pandemics to bio-engineered bugs. Screw it - I'm going to have a good day, tired or not. Maybe I'll find some money...maybe a new pen.....

This is really trippy. I live in Arizona and over the past six months myself and both of my roomates and good cross section of both my work friends and non-work friends got sick. Myself i was sick for a lil over six weeks went to hospital gave me antibiotics....dinna work...told me that they werent suer what it was....nnurse told me she was worried about my lymph nodes....they were all sorts of swoll up....bloody painful. Lots and lots of muchus...i mean between my roomate and i if we could sell muchus we would be millionaires many times over. Severe chest congestion....I am asmatic and have had my asthma flair up alot more recently....and this is in Flagstaff az way up in the northern az moutains.....its everywhere it seems....i know its down in PHX as well because both of my sisters haevtold me about themselves and thier friends getting it. Surpisingly there is lil mention of this in the media....mmhhmmm....Both my roomate and I have been off and on sick since early december 05.....now it was worst around the new year.....and then slackened off and then got worse again around the middle of febuary.....go figure...what the heck is going on.


btw this is my first ATS post so i hope i didnt do anything wrong.....i look forward to talking with all of you out there......

It's in New Jersey as well. My grand-daughter was hospitalized for 4 days due to high fever (103+), sinus trouble, and heavy chest congestion.

The first ped doc said it was a cold but when days went by without improvement she was referred to the children's hospital. The poor one year old had to endure a four day IV and having blood drawn 8 times.

She finally broke the fever and they released her 5 days ago but she is still congested and now my 2 year old grandson his mom, dad and myself are all battling this bug. The mucus that my cough is producing looks like pieces of lung and has the stickiness of rubber cement and what an effort it takes to get it up (the phlegm).
I'm thinking that maybe we're getting something viral in the air from Louisiana.