posted 12-18-2002 08:09 PM            

It has been rumoured that this disease can be triggered by IMMUNIZATIONS. Most of us have dormant Strep A in our system. By vaccination there may be a danger of introducing it into the bloodstream!!

A VERY NASTY DISEASE THAT MULTIPLIES LIKE A COCKROACH!

HERE IS A REPORT OF THE LATEST CASE IN MY AREA!!:

Flesh Eating Bacteria
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

(Springfield Union News December 18, 2002) - A Boston construction worker has died from a flesh-eating bacteria rarely seen in humans. Forty-four-year-old Ydelio Espino was admitted to Brigham and Women's Hospital earlier this month and died on December 11th. Doctors amputated his left leg before his death. The disease is not contagious. State health officials say they see about ten to 15 cases per year in Massachusetts, and most victims recover. Espino had been working on a construction site in Brookline. It's not clear how he contracted the bacteria.

SYMPTOMS:

Necrozing fasciitis usually begins as an area of unexplained redness,or rash, swelling and pain somewhere on the body. The redness, swelling and pain may be associated with a cut or abrasion on the skin, but in most cases there is no obvious skin injury before hand. Many of the people who develop necrotizing fasciitis also complain of flu-like symptoms. In necrotizing fasciitis, the redness, swelling and pain increases very rapidly as the infection spreads to deeper layers of body tissue. Without immediate treatment to halt the spread of the infection, necrotizing fasciitis can be fatal.

How can it be prevented?

Not all necrotizing fasciitis can be prevented - there are currently no vaccines available to protect against necrotizing fasciitis. It remains unclear why the Group "A" Streptococcal bacteria causes conditions such as strep throat and minor skin infections in some people and necrotizing fasciitis in others.

LINKS:
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=1921366

http://www.nnff.org/ (non-profit for survior, which is rare)

http://www.diseaseworld.com/necro.htm Contains graphic images...VERY NASTY
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/bid/respdis/necro_e.html

http://www.hlth.gov.bc.ca/hlthfile/hfile60.html

http://www.crha-health.ab.ca/hlthconn/items/flesheat.htm

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-dgspsp/publicat/info/necro_e.html

posted 12-18-2002 08:33 PM            

U.S. MARINE DIES OF MYSTERY RASH

MILITARY OUTBREAKS?

ABCNEWS.COM

Dec. 17 — A potentially lethal bacteria outbreak that has sent more than 100 Marine recruits to the hospital in California may have caused the death of an 18-year-old private.

The recruit, 18-year-old Pvt. Miguel "Mike" Zavala, died after seeking medical treatment for a rash on his left ankle. He was one of dozens of recruits at the Marine Corp's West Coast Recruiting Depot in Camp Pendleton who was hospitalized with symptoms of Streptococcus A, a bacteria that can cause a flesh-eating disease.

Zavala's family members say they believe his death may have been related to the recent outbreak of Strep A.

The Marine Corps has begun testing nearly 5,000 of its members at the base for the contagious disease and is treating them with antibiotics in hopes of stemming the spread of the disease.

But for the Zavalas, the action came too late.

"On Sunday we get a call saying he was taken in because of pneumonia, because his lungs were not working, that his heart was stopping," said Patty Ramirez, the victim's sister.

"We were on our way to San Diego when about an hour passed and they called us and we called the medical center to find out the status on my brother and all they said is sorry, he didn't make it," Ramirez told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.

Zavala, 18, reported to the base clinic at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15, along with 394 members of his training company for a routine medical check.

After Zavala was seen in the clinic, Marine officials said, doctors concluded the rash on his left ankle was serious enough to require attention at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. At the hospital, the rash quickly spread to the rest of his body and he started suffering pneumonia-like symptoms. By 1:01 p.m., Zavala was dead.

Zavala was the third recruit to die at the base in as many weeks. Officials said the deaths were unrelated.

Pvt. Neal Edwards, 18, of St. Clair, Mo., died Nov. 24 of a heart ailment after completing an obstacle course, and Pvt. Samuel J. Bruss, 19, of Kenosha, Wis., died Thursday when his lungs filled with fluid during survival training at the base swimming pool, officials said.

Ramirez says her brother called their mother Saturday, before he felt sick, to let her know that she should try not to worry about the two deaths on the base and to let her know that he was doing well.

Public Risk

Capt. John Malone, the hospital's medical services director, says the public was not at risk, and that every recruit on the base was getting a shot of penicillin to help confine the spread of Streptococcus A. Military doctors say the infection quickly spread among the recruits because of their close living arrangements and training conditions.

"We find this very much localized to the actual recruits," Malone said. "All the recruits are stationed and restricted to the base during their intensive recruit training times," he said.

Malone said Zavala's infection could have been Strep A or one of its equally dangerous cousins. The doctor added that preliminary autopsy results showed "no indication" Zavala had the flesh-eating strain of the bacteria and that the exact cause of death wouldn't be known until the final results of the autopsy were in.