Deadly Cold Strain - Watch Out!

There have been 10 deaths reported from what appears to be a new strain of adenovirus type 14 or Ad14.

Adenovirus Outbreaks

Adenovirus expert Gregory C. Gray, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Iowa, says particularly virulent strains of adenovirus pop up from time to time.

"I think this Ad14 strain is a matter of concern," Gray tells WebMD. "Something makes this unique. The question is what makes it cause outbreaks of severe disease. It's a bit of a mystery."

I think we need to keep an eye on this one, especially since the article states there are few labs that can test for it, and let's face it, there are a lot of areas where the tests just won't be sent out anyway.

Know the signs and keep an eye on your loved ones.

With Flu and cold season approaching, this is a pretty serious development.
And, yes, this does bear watching closely.

What to Do About Ad14

What can you do about Ad14?

Parents, Su says, should watch kids' colds carefully. Any child with a severe cold should be taken to a doctor or nurse.

For that matter, anyone with a severe cold or a cold that keeps getting worse should seek medical attention.

"If health care providers see a patient with worsening symptoms like cough or runny nose or troubled breathing, they should send off a sample for testing," Su says. "If it is adenovirus, they should keep daily tabs on that patient until they turn the corner. That way, if they go downhill really fast -- which patients with Ad14 infection can do -- they can get the more intensive medical care they may need."

SOURCE



[edit on 11/20/2007 by benevolent tyrant]

Oh this is just great......

I'm just starting my first cold of the season and have felt like crap for the last couple days. I've never thought of a cold as being deadly unless you're elderly and complications set in, but this one could get out of hand considering how fast people spread it around.

For some reason people don't think twice about going to work or visiting friends and family if they're sick.
Oh it's just a cold. :shk:

I wonder if we'll see a spike in this after the Thanksgiving holiday when so many people travel and are close to others while traveling and visiting ?
Then the kids will go back to school and people return to work and only spread it further.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder

For some reason people don't think twice about going to work or visiting friends and family if they're sick.
Oh it's just a cold. :shk:

Yep - my biggest pet peeve in life. Luckily I now work in an office where they take it very seriously. Everyone realizes that we cannot afford to risk the rest of the office and if you are sick you are sent home.

However, that is not the norm. Besides the people that insist on coming in and risk infecting others, there are the bosses that just don't get it and insist on the same. They don't seem to get being down one person is better than risking being down everyone a week later. My last job I pratically got fired for sending someone home when I flat out asked her if the Dr. could say that she was not in danger of infecting others, but felt she shouldn't be taking the chance. I had surgery scheduled two days later and could not take the risk of coming down with something and losing my scheduled date.

One thing I have learned. When someone is sick in the office they must be flat out told to stay off everyone else's phone - period! It makes all the difference in the world as to how much it spreads if phone sharing is prohibited. Meanwhile, we all have our cans of Lysol and spray our entire desks, keyboards etc. continuously during the day just in case if someone develops somethinhg during the day.

This behaviour of not staying away from others when you may be infectious is what will take us down no matter what bug we are faced with when the time comes for some epidemic. How about that lawyer who knew he had an untreatable case of infectious TB that got on a plane for his wedding anyway? Yep - selfish idoits like that are what we have to worry about when and if a serious outbreak of anything comes our way.