The big medical story this week is of the cloned monkey cells done a the Oregon Primate Center. This is not the story I will be talking about...
The neat looking graphic above is a CGI image of Adenovirus-14. According to the CDC there are lots of adenovirus types out there and most are pretty harmless unless you are really young or really old or have a problem with your immune system like you have HIV or something.
What makes Adenovirus-14 interesting is that this strain attacks healthy adults and puts them in the hospital with pneumonia. It is basically a cold bug and is transmitted the same way, by touch or in by inhaling an infected persons cough. You catch a cold and instead of sneezing and taking a day off work to watch Perry Mason you may end up in the ICU or even the morgue.
Why should Oregonians worry about Adenovirus-14? Below is an excerpt from a Medpage Article from today.
"ATLANTA, Nov. 16 -- Clinicians should keep their eyes peeled for a mutated form of adenovirus 14 that has caused at least 10 deaths, most of them among adults, the CDC warned."
"The new strain of adenovirus 14 differs in that most of its victims have been otherwise healthy adults, CDC officials said.
"What really got people's attention is these are healthy young adults landing in the hospital and, in some cases, the ICU," said John Su, M.D., Ph.D., of the CDC. "
"The deadliest outbreak, identified retrospectively, occurred in Oregon, after a local clinician reported multiple patients admitted to a single hospital for pneumonia over a five-week period in March and April.
Of the 17 specimens obtained, 15 were positive for adenovirus 14, the CDC said, leading Oregon public health authorities to review records from virology labs and find 68 people who tested positive between Nov. 1, 2006, and April 30, 2007. "
This is a Bar of Soap. USE IT!!
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