South Florida warned about meningitis strain that has killed 4

The strain, W135, makes up only about 3 percent of cases worldwide. It's unusual to have so many in one grouping here, said Dr. Vincent Conte, senior physician at the Miami-Dade Health Department.

''There doesn't seem to be any pattern,'' he said. ``We have cases in North Dade, South Dade, East Dade and West Dade. There's no real cluster. It's everywhere.''

The strain is surprising, Conte said. ``There have been scattered outbreaks around the world over the past few years, but so far in the U.S. we're the first location where there has been a cluster.''

This is scary!

My husband had bacterial Meningitis about 10+ years ago.
He was in ICU for 15 days. And quarantined. The doctor said the type that he had was usually fatal. My husband was a very sick man. I didn't think he would pull through it. It was a horrible and scary situation. He screamed for days until I finally asked the doctor if they could give him something to put him out so he wouldn't suffer so bad. I hope they can get a handle on this. I don't ever want to go through that again..!!

Originally posted by LiquidCrystalz


This is scary!

My husband had bacterial Meningitis about 10+ years ago.
He was in ICU for 15 days. And quarantined. The doctor said the type that he had was usually fatal. My husband was a very sick man. I didn't think he would pull through it. It was a horrible and scary situation. He screamed for days until I finally asked the doctor if they could give him something to put him out so he wouldn't suffer so bad. I hope they can get a handle on this. I don't ever want to go through that again..!!

It is scary I had a cousin years ago who contracted a virulent form of meningitis and spent the better part of a year in the hospital in years learning to function again. He was a very succesful scientist at Goddard's NASA facility and had to end his career prematurely as a result. They think it was brought on by a mosquito bite in his backyard!

So sorry to hear about your husband I hope he is well now.

Keep some antibiotics on hand!

If you live in Florida you know how bad the mosquito's get in the summer. If it can be transmitted by a mosquito thats bad news. This sucks!

Originally posted by Digital_Reality
If you live in Florida you know how bad the mosquito's get in the summer. If it can be transmitted by a mosquito thats bad news. This sucks!

It's why I keep a good supply of good insect repellent and plenty of Citronella torches and candles on hand.

I take mosquitos so seriously I actually have Quinine (Malaria Pills) in my hurricane kit!

Just 2 thoughts, if the missing pathogens were going to be used for testing in the real world, why would the MSM report it in the first place? Wouldn't that be self defeating? And also how do you go about getting a scrip for anti-biotics for a survival kit, just ask a doctor?

Originally posted by oneinthesame
Just 2 thoughts, if the missing pathogens were going to be used for testing in the real world, why would the MSM report it in the first place? Wouldn't that be self defeating? And also how do you go about getting a scrip for anti-biotics for a survival kit, just ask a doctor?

That's a good question as to why you would report it in the MSM.

The only two valid reasons I could see would be to gauge the public's reaction to this disclosure and or to raise the level of fear and distrust in the general public.

One might want to keep in mind if they are so inclined that over these past few months the theft of trillions of tax payer dollars has been occuring in part of what many contend is a conspiracy that involves goverment.

What better way to perpetuate that theft than to keep the public angry, confused and divided over a whole host of other issues?

A doctor sounds like a great way to go about that. I imagine one would be very understanding of why you would want them for a hurricane kit and be glad to perscribe something you weren't allergic to for that purpose.

Here in Miami there are several pharmacies that the pharmacist will be glad to sell you non-narcotic medications after a brief consultation. Typically in the poorer immigrant neighborhoods where people might not have access to a doctor or see health care people who were doctors in their native speaking countries but have no credentials to practice Medicine in the U.S.

Such a place would save you the 100.00 consultation fee most doctors charge and you would end up paying 10.00 for 10.00 worth of medicine as opposed to 110.00 for 10.00 worth of medicine.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

How are several of you obtaining antibiotics for these emergencies? I notice a lot of people seem to have easy access. How can I obtain some to put away for emergencies?

Originally posted by sedona
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

 

How are several of you obtaining antibiotics for these emergencies? I notice a lot of people seem to have easy access. How can I obtain some to put away for emergencies?

You could either ask your Doctor to write you a perscription for an emergency/evacuation kit, or the next time you have antibiotics perscribed save a few of them and not take them all and start tucking some aside that way.

You could also look for a pharmacy that is willing to dispense non-narcotic medications through a customer consultation and simply ask the pharmacist if they would sell you some. Some smaller mom and pop type pharmacies are happy to do this as long as it is a non-narcotic medication that is not subject to DEA audits.

The worst they can say is no, the best they can say is yes and save you the cost of a doctors visit.

Good luck!

The Miami-Dade Health Department would not release the names of those infected by the W135 strain of meningitis since December for privacy reasons. But it released general information about them.

These patients died:

Female, 26 (verified to be British tourist Jade Thomas)

Female, 21

Female, 58 (Broward County)

Male, 85

These patients survived:

Male, 71

Male, 30

Female, 84

Male, 2

Male, 12

Female, 78

Female, 51

Female, 79 (Palm Beach County)

I am going to keep adding updates to this very important story and urge those visiting this thread to star and flag and post to it to keep it on the ATS Board for as long as possible.

This is a very important issue! This strain of the virus is rare, has come out of no where and has the even rarer distinction of creating a cluster of cases in one very confined region (that I happen to live in)

I am urging people to do this for one simple reason...the onset of symptoms to mortality is only 4-6 hours! That is a frighteningly short amount of time that only someone informed about the disease would possibly know to get treatment in that narrow alloted time frame.

Here is the link to this mornings Miami Herald Updated Article.

Thanks in advance.

Miami Herald Morning Edition

''We're stumped,'' Dr. Vincent Conte, senior physician at the Miami-Dade Health Department, said Thursday. ``There doesn't seem to be any pattern. We have cases in North Dade, South Dade, East Dade and West Dade. There's no cluster. It's everywhere.''

''We've never had a transmission like this in the United States,'' said Amanda Cohn, an Atlanta physician with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who specializes in meningitis.

It's reassuring that the Center for Disease Control has decided since yesterday to get involved in tracking this situation.

As of yesterday 4 deaths and 11 cases was not enough for them to warrant taking over the administration of the event.

People in South Florida kept their cool despite news that the W135 strain of meningitis can have a mortality rate as high as 20 percent. Local family doctors reported only a trickle of calls from families, mostly asking if their vaccinations were up to date.

''We had a couple of phone calls,'' said Dr. Norman Goldberg, a Baptist Hospital pediatrician. ``I don't think the news has fully resonated yet.''
.

Which is exactly why I am keeping on trying to keep this threat alive.

Kudos to the Staff for the Applause for the effort. WorldWatcher and the ATS Staff are the best on the Internet! My compliments and thanks!

The CDC has seen individual cases in the United States of the deadly, fast-moving strain, and there have been outbreaks in other parts of the world, including one that hit Muslims on the pilgrimage to Mecca and in the African country of Burkina Faso, Cohn said. But the CDC has never seen a case in which 12 people have been infected in six months in one area, as happened in South Florida.

The strain can kill within hours of symptoms, and anyone experiencing severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck should see a doctor immediately, health officials warned.

''It's a very scary disease,'' Cohn said, ``but it's not incredibly infectious. You're not going to see hundreds and hundreds of cases.''

Dr. Kimberley Shoaf, associate director of the UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters, called the W135 strain ``incredibly rare.''