Mysterious Viruses as Bad as They Get (Marburg-NYT Health Section)

[sharonking21]

By DENISE GRADY

Published: April 26, 2005


UÍGE, Angola, April 19 - Traditional healers here say their grandmothers knew of a bleeding disease similar to the current epidemic of hemorrhagic fever that has killed 244 of the 266 people who have contracted it. The grandmothers even had a treatment for the sickness, the healers told Dr. Boris I. Pavlin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the remedy has been lost. The old disease was called kifumbe, the word in the Kikongo language for murder

No one can say for sure what kifumbe (pronounced key-FOOM-bay) was, and in some ways the Marburg virus is almost as mysterious. More than a month has passed since it was identified as the cause of the deadly outbreak here - the largest Marburg epidemic on record - but some of the most basic questions about the epidemic have yet to be answered. How and when did this rare virus get here? Why have so many victims been children? And how could so many have become infected before the disease was recognized?

The high death rate, over 90 percent, is also puzzling, but it is too soon to tell whether the rate is really that high. In past outbreaks, mortality has been lower. In Uíge, milder cases may be going unrecognized.

"It is easier to count the dead people," said Dr. Pierre Rollin, a physician in the special pathogens branch of the C.D.C. "The numbers in the beginning don't mean anything."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/26/health/26viru.html?

...

A good (and three-page article). At the right side of the page there are also graphics you can access.

[qazplm]

1. technically

I would call getting rabies as bad as it can get, 100% fatal after symptoms set in, but still, least with rabies you have a chance early, these hemorrhagic viruses are pretty nasty all the way around.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Actually these hemorrhagic viruses are not as bad as one would think

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5700864&cKey=1113941116000

Fighting Deadly Marburg Outbreak May Benefit Angola

Current efforts are focused on catching cases and stopping them from spreading, the health experts said. The initial symptoms of Marburg -- headache, malaise and high fever followed by vomiting and diarrhea -- are similar to those of any number of other, common infectious diseases.

Marburg is transmitted through bodily fluids such as blood, sweat and saliva. Symptoms include high fever, vomiting, diarrhea and internal bleeding.

The 90 percent mortality rate is probably due to poor health care and not some special lethality of the virus itself, doctors say.

"It takes very close contact with a known patients, usually very seriously ill, to become infected with this virus," said Ksiazek. "This is not a disease that is going through the general community in Uige."

more

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-deadly-virus,0,1468766.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

U.N.: Marburg Virus Coming Under Control

LONDON -- Medical teams trying to stamp out the worst recorded incidence of Marburg virus in Angola are beginning to get the deadly outbreak under control as cooperation from stricken communities improves, the U.N. health agency said Saturday.

The virus, closely related to the feared Ebola virus, has caused hemorrhagic fever in 266 people and killed 244 of them since March, when the outbreak first came to the attention of health authorities.

As communities began to understand the dangers of the virus, though, the number of new cases dropped from an average of 35 per week to 15, the World Health Organization reported.

"This is good news, but it doesn't mean the outbreak is over," said Dr. Fatoumata Diallo, the WHO representative in Angola.

more

Once the hysteria is taken out of the equation the Marburg virus doesn't appear to any worse than many other common infectious diseases. Even rabies does not apper to be 100% fatal with the proper treatment.

Don

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Health/story?id=411720&page=1

Teen Rabies Survivor on the Mend

First Person to Survive Rabies Without Vaccine Is on the Road to Recovery After Coma Treatment

Jan. 14, 2005 — Three months ago, 15-year-old Jeanna Giese was bitten by a bat. Instead of rushing to the hospital to receive a rabies vaccine, the Wisconsin teen figured it was simply a scratch, and gave the wound a good washing.

But soon symptoms, such as double vision and occasional unconsciousness, started to appear.

Taking a Chance on a Risky Treatment

Jeanna's parents, John and Ann, said that when doctors told them Jeanna had rabies and there was no routine treatment, "our hearts just dropped," said John. But the Gieses told the doctors to do whatever it took to help Jeanna. "We wouldn't take no for an answer," said John.

more

[Media_Lies_Daily]

4. Right. When are you volunteering to go to Angola to help stop....

...the spread of the disease? Maybe you can tell the locals what you think...don't be too surprised if they disagree rather strongly.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Very original. DrGonzoLives bit you in the ass real good. Didn't he?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x5944

Media_Lies_Daily (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-20-05 08:05 AM
Response to Reply #9

10. Easy for you to say now when Marburg is thousands of miles away....


...but, I bet you won't find many Angolans buying what you're selling.


Alert Printer Friendly | Link | Reply | Top



DrGonzoLives (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-25-05 03:36 PM
Response to Reply #10

23. And what are you doing to ease their suffering?


Posting speculation on an internet message board? OOoohhh, what a hero you are.


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Don't feel too bad. Good old DrGonzoLives has bit me in the ass a few times over the years too.

Don

[sharonking21]

7. Had to use the headline as it was

In posting, I had to follow the rules for Late Breaking and use the actual headline. I agree the headline may be a tiny bit misleading, but I thought it was a very good article.

Just as an aside, I used to work at the Texas Department of Health. Every time I would walk through the laboratory building to get to my car in the parking lot beyond, I would see a small plaque commemorating the death long ago of a TDH worker.

Later I read his story. We have a famous bat cave in central Texas which he had been investigating for something. Although as far as he remembered he had not been bitten or scratched by bats, nevertheless he did contract rabies and he died. The theory was that either he didn't notice actual contact with one of the many bats or that somehow he scraped his skin on the rocky interior and was infected through the more than plentiful fresh bat guano containing rabies virus.

Later I started walking to my car outside the lab building on an open walkway. Suddenly I noted a plenitude of white boxes stacked on stainless steel lab tables rolled outside on the walkway; they were emanating a skunk-like stench. I figured they had to test dead skunks for rabies and couldn't stand the odor of storing them all inside. A couple of days later my suspicions were confirmed. As I walked out at the end of the day, I noted that a hand-lettered sign had appeared on top of the boxes.

The sign said: "Please do not steal the rabies specimens." I not only wondered who would want to do so, but also suddenly coveted the sign to put on my car when I had to park it in a bad part of town.

[NNN0LHI]

9. I thought it was a great article. It was very informative

If the headline had not been scary sounding no one would have clicked on it.

As for the story about the "Please do not steal the rabies specimens", sign story I thought it was great. I have to get me one of those signs for my car for when I visit downtown Chicago. I just hope I will be able to get the parking attendant to park the damn thing. I bet it cuts down on getting pulled over for speeding too. Great story though. Thank you for sharing it. Take care and see you later.

Don

[Selteri]

3. Funny how the newest virus has a 95%+/- fatality

and at the same time 50 of the top microbiologists in the world have died in the past 3 years.

[pie]

6. I did not know that. What do you think that means?

[sharonking21]

8. It means that the world is

utterly teeming with organisms called microbiologists and when one of them meets an untimely end through accident, suicide, or disease, he or she is suddenly elevated to the status of "top" microbiologist for the purposes of conspiracy theorists.