Missouri tornado victims getting aggressive fungal infections

[ensho]

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php


It is publicly unknown how many of over 1700 treated May 22 Missouri tornado victims now suffer the wrath of a rapid, aggressive fungal infection in their wounds that is causing nerve damage, blindness, brain and lung blood clots and death, but Thursday, health officials issued a staff warning about the killer fungus now that at least nine people have been treated and three or four died due to it. Dr. Uwe Schmidt, an infectious disease specialist at Freeman Health System, said three or four people with the infection called zygomycosis have died reported the News Leader. Although medical staff knew that the killer fungus was causing serious complications the week after the tornadoes, the situation was kept under cover until Thursday. Still, a close approximation of the number of people infected with the deadly fungus is not being revealed. In the deadly tornado aftermath that destroyed Joplin, Missouri's St. John Hospital, Freeman Hospital doctors treated over 1,700 patients
while St. John Hospital doctors treated patients in emergency makeshift facilities at Memorial Hall and McAuley Catholic High School.

The Zygomycosis fungus invades underlying tissue - the underlying blood vessels, and cuts off circulation to the skin causing the area to become black according to Dr. Schmidt who says it is "very invasive." Head wounds are the most lethal, while the fungus remaining in an arm or leg have required amputation to save the patient according to Tornado victims wounded near the head have died. As soon as brain tissue started dying, it was too late to save the patient" according to the Leader. The real number of victims with the deadly fungus is unknown as the "report of numbers of cases of reportable diseases are handled by public health departments," according to Cora Scott, a spokeswoman for St. John's Hospital in Springfield, who has been referring all questions to Springfield-Greene County Health Department. Only a week after the tornado, three fungal infection patients were admitted to Freeman Hospital and doctors tried controlling the fungus with
intravenous medicine and by removing killed tissues. Dr. Schmidt said that he and other medical staff could see mold in the wounds. "It rapidly spread. The tissue dies off and becomes black. It doesn't have any circulation. It has to be removed."

and

Eight people injured by the devastating Joplin, Missouri, tornado have contracted a rare fungal infection, and three have died, officials said Friday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is assisting state and local health officials, who are investigating the cases. All three individuals who died had serious injuries, as well as fungus, Jasper County Coroner Rob Chappel said. One of the deaths was caused by the infection, called mucormycosis, but the cause of death for the other two victims has not been determined, he said. All eight patients sustained multiple injuries and secondary wound infections, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The infection can occur when dirt, vegetation or other material becomes lodged under the skin. The death toll from the May tornado stood at 151 on Friday. CDC researcher Dr. Benjamin Park told CNN that in most cases, people with weakened immune systems inhale spores and develop sinus or nasal infections
that spread. The Joplin cases apparently are a form of the severe infection that appears with soft-tissue injuries. A spore on the tip of a tree, for example, can pierce the skin, Park said. The infection can progress a few weeks later and cause significant damage to tissue, which can require hospitalization, antibiotics and even removal of the tissue. Although this is a rare infection, it can have extremely serious consequences, requiring prompt medical attention, Park said. Anyone in the tornado area that is suffering wounds that are not healing should seek prompt medical attention, he added. Deep skin fungal infection does not spread from human to human, Missouri officials said. No cases were attributed to air, food or water.

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not good at all

[somone]

1. Could this be because many Joplin residents have no health insurance?

Uninsured people don't like to seek medical attention for seemingly minor wounds and lacerations - because they can't afford the ER bills.

[kestrel91316]

2. Per CDC, zygomycosis is one of those weird, rare, emerging

infectious diseases. They are having increasing problems in France, of all places, with it.

[tombstone blues]

3. What causes this? In my humble opinion

I would put the blame on USING antibiotics. That's how you get nasty yeast infections, etc.

[NutmegYankee]

5. Antibiotics don't kill fungus. Perhaps you thought of Antimycotics?

Antibiotics kill bacteria.

On edit, LOL - It appears we had a troll. That explains it!

[The Midway Rebel]

4. My understanding of the disease in this case...

is that these victims had top soil blown into their wounds at a high velocity during the F5 tornado. They were subsequently rushed to ER's where their wounds were sewn and stitched up haphazardly without very thoroughly removing the impacted soil. This is is what has led to the severe infections and in some cases, death.

Disclaimer: I am not in the medical field.