What is this contagious Illness?

Near Charlotte here - it's here in full force. Last week it showed on the news that over 50% of a school in Rock Hill, SC (like 20 miles from here) was out sick. Now it's traveling up to NC. Lots of people at work have had this "flu" - makes you wonder.

This reminds me of mono - I had that for AN ENTIRE YEAR. The epstein barr virus causes that and it's possible that once you are "over" your virus you can have a "viral - like syndrome" where the symptoms reoccur for MONTHS afterward.

I think it's a bunch of crap, personally. They need to be telling people with suppressed immune systems to STAY HOME and STAY OUT OF THE Dr's offices, grocery stores, daycares, fast food restaurants, etc. - this virus is obviously very communicable. If you have a family Dr they can call in medicines if they will help.

Something else about this flu girl at work said that when she went to the Dr she had a CBC test done (complete blood count test) to determine if she had a high amount of white blood cells, which would indicate an infection. That test checks 3 things, I'm not sure of the names, but they can tell if it's viral or bacterial if you do have an infection. Hers came back with BOTH - bacterial and viral. So that's really strange to have a virus and a bacterial infection that would cause your numbers to go up at the same time.



*** On another note, I just finished re-reading The Stand, by Stephen King and some of the above posts remind me of that book!! Kinda freaky ! ***

soficrow - You really think it's the bird flu? H5N1? oh my

The news I read today said that they are testing a flock of flamingos in the Bahamas for it. Apparently there's a bunch of dead ones down there and they're worried.

Even if it's not the avian flu here, it's really just a matter of time before it does get here. It's already all over europe, asia, and in some parts of Africa.

What will happen to our economy when we have to cull the chickens and other birds we eat every day? Seriously , what will replace that lost revenue in the restaurants? Beef, seafood? Makes you wonder. Maybe KFC will start selling Gyros!

Source

Edited to add the above source.

[edit on 1-3-2006 by uplander]

Can confirm in delaware also.

Also in the news here is a school in philly I beleive with 500 sick and has been shut down the last week.

I was sick for like a week.. then better then got sick again. Atm better but dunno. I was having massive sinus problems, hacking blood, joint pain, and fever.

My roomate is now sick and its acting like a stomach virus in him.

Okay, so it IS more widespread than I thought, and people are reporting an illness that is extremely atypical in it's symptoms and ability to be treated.

So why no news about this? It seems rather serious to me just from witnessing it around my workplace, and people aren't getting better. I also have reports of it being both viral and bacterial at the same time. God help us with a possible half a million people coming through Daytona this week. The other thing that worries me (I don't think it's the bird flu) is how it lingers. Ultimately, what happens if (or I should say when) the bird flu reaches the US with this thing lingering and still infecting/reinfecting people?

Use a Quartz (this is important, since the electrical discharge stuff creates NOx molecules!) ozone generator, fill a cool mist vaporizer with vinegar in your room, and make sure O3 levels don't get too high, this combination should be much more effective than either ingredient alone.

DIsclaimer: i haven't tried it, tbh, but it's been a long while since i've been sick, let alone seriously sick *knocks on wood*. if you feel uncomfortable around O3, don't use it.

i will confirm that it is in NJ also , my whole family had it and kicked it;s a zz except for my son who is 11 year's old ,the dr. say's he has MONO, but the strange thing is they said it is not contagous and they let him back to school .My son has had this for at least a year -fever ,dark circles under his eyes weakness and very tired.What the hell is this thing .

Here is what really bothers me:

What is it, when is it contagious, (it seems to stay contagious) and what do you do about it? Why do none of the Drs. seem to have any answers on this, let alone half of them don't even know about it if they aren't working in a hospital or Primary Care physicians?

I want answers!

Originally posted by Relentless
Here is what really bothers me:

I want answers!

reading this thread made me wonder that IF a major epidemic or pandemic were underway in your country, would you be told about it or would they try and cover it up ala stephen king's 'the stand'?

sounds like the only way you are going to find out anything is by making people HEAR your concerns. i'd suggest all of you affected should start ringing as many local and national radio phone-ins as possible and demanding answers. if there really is something going on then the snowball effect should take place pretty soon

My mother was terribly congested, coughing so hard, had no energy, was even talking to people when no one was there (hallucinating)...my sister took her to ER, where they diagnosed her with pneumonia...my mother was also told that they thought she had problems with her heart and scheduled her for an arteriogram...during the arteriogram, they found blockages...when they were putting in stints, she stopped breathing. To make a long story short, my Moma died on January 31st due to heart failure.

My father had had this stuff and gave it to my mother. He got over it, but is sick again, now. They live in northeast Alabama. I'm in Texas, and went to Alabama, but didn't get sick, and I haven't heard about anyone very sick here, but it may be here and I just don't know about it. I had a flu shot and am glad I did...maybe it really has helped me. I just feel like poop all the time anyway, due to my fibromyalgia (and possibly too much candida...?).

Please, everyone, help the old people and the children and take good care of them! Good Health wishes to all of you...you're in my prayers..........

FibroKat

I am in Canada, and around where I live people are experiencing the same thing.
Co-workers constantly calling in sick and everything.

I was sick for about a month and then I got better for only about 3 days, and now I've come down with some kind of sinus/lung infection.

Thats the first thing I thought when I read the title to this thread.

Just noticed this on the news, sound like what your talking about?

www.news.com.au...

Wow - could very well be the same thing. Sounds like the first few cases around here where the doctors were all just baffled and trying anything because they hadn't seen it yet.

Of course the Drs. still seem baffled with this, they just recognize it now, that's all.

Now one of the girls who didn't have it all that bad but relapsed two or three times and only stayed out a day each time (she was out yesterday) says she has what she describes as abdominal muscle type pain, like she had done crunches all night.

Oh, the other strange thing with this bug is that it makes people ravenous. They just keep eating all day and are still hungry. It's really odd.

Is there anyone from the government here on ATS who would care to shar your knowledge on this year's strange ful season



It seems viral at times and at other times it seems bacterial, and then at other times it is "all in your head" "nothing is wrong with you "

Ohh mame, Your blood titor inicator tests shows a slight elevation. In addition to the problems you are telling me you are haveing, Here, try some Wellbutrin, that seems to help people like you and in a few short weels.you will be just fine. Do you reccommend any medication I can take to help me thru this? Well, no not really. They I say, I can't sleep at night, so please give me some ambien, at least. I'd like some imitrex for mu migraine, and I'd like a MORE SPECIFIC ANSWER TO MY QUESTION!!! what is wrong with me?Surely you KNOW

Oh, the other strange thing with this bug is that it makes people ravenous. They just keep eating all day and are still hungry. It's really odd.

Now it's starting to sound more like a parasitical infection. Very odd indeed.

My brother-in-law works for Intel in Folsom Ca. 3 weeks ago he had a business meeting with some people from Russia. They were sick during that time. He has since gotten Very ill with severe flu-like sysmptoms. Fever, headache, nausea, throwing up, aches and pain. Yesterday my sister took him to the emergency room and they ended up doing a spinal tap and he has vital menigitis. Others in his ofice have been sick for a long time. The doctors say there is no real treatment and sent him home with pain medication and something for nausea. My sister asked if she should report it to his humanresource dept. or if they were going to contact CDC., and he said no he was not, and she should not bother. There is something out there getting a lot of people sick.

To my knowledge viral meningitis is reported to the CDC and you aren't sent home if you have it. It's quite serious, quite contagious and you need more than painkillers to stop it, it doesn't go away on it's own.

I am really starting to wonder what is really going on here with all the contagious mystery illnesses at this point. Where is the CDC?

People in my area are similarly afflicted. A cold you can't quite get rid of, and a lot of respiratory problems. It might have something to do with the temperature abnormalities, I'm not sure.

In any case, the symptoms are congestion and muscle weakness, near me anyway. People just feel run down and stuffy, they don't have any motivation or energy. Presumably the reason the CDC isn't involved is because they don't know what it is or what to do about it, and until people start puking blood en masse, there's no pressure to act.

Most people haven't quite caught on that there's something wrong, but there certainly do appear to be signs of some sort of outbreak.

Could be a precursor to something. Stay tuned to current events, I guess. What else can people do at this point?

I know the one hospital in my area is constantly understaffed, and bursting at the seams with patients already. I can imagine how bad it could get, if people started freaking out about this (apparently) wide spread, unknown contagion.

Thanks, Relentless about the heads up on this thread.... I'm about to blow your mind.

In late December, I was in Miami Florida and contracted something I have never experienced before. The first symptom was swelling and intense pain in a single lymph node under my right jaw. That was it for about four days. No other symptoms and no discomfort in any other manner. By the end of the fourth day, I began to feel the initial stages of lung congestion. Within a day, I would consider it the worst congestion I have experience with any illness in my life. That lasted about 4 more days. Then came the infection of my inner ears...both eustachian tubes. For the next two weeks, as the last symptoms abated, I remained generally fatigued and cloudy.

Aside from the severity of each of the symptoms (this thing really kicked my ass), what I found most odd was how "staged" this illness felt.

I'll explain what I mean. It was almost as if the illness was affecting parts of my body one at a time. Each prior symptom almost completely abated before presentation of the next symptom. I think that's very weird!

Anyway, I finally got over it. Never saw the Dr....Just thought it was the flu...

Then I went to northern Florida two weeks ago. Within two days, I caught something new. Now the symptoms were more like a traditional flu or bad cold.... congestion, fever, coughing, etc... except that it was highly contagious. My wife and son were sick at the exact same time. People we were in contact with who were not sick became sick very quickly.

The major symptoms lasted for roughly a week, but even now I wouldn't say I'm at 100%.

The only odd thing about the second illness is that my son and I were eating like pigs, but my wife could barely hold down water...

I have no clue if what everyone is experiencing is normal or not. Reporting of illnesses in this country is pretty third world- even if we like to think otherwise.

All I can say is that, anecdotaly, I can not remember a time in my life were I experienced a flu like the first one I had. The second one seemed more normal... And it really pisses me off that each time I have gone to Florida in the past few months, I've gotten sick. What's with that?

Soficrow

I hope you are wrong.

Btw, here is the current flu map

It is Florida loam, have you taken that into account?

The place can be rather sickening. Whether it's police brutality or tazering kids in school, or a Nazi's cartoon theme park legacy, there's something about the place that gives me the creeps.

I thought the situation could use some levity, because it sounds so serious.