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A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

nytimes.com

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Re: A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

#21

Post by tokenadult »

Alex3917 wrote: post #3

The problem also is that you have people who are constantly getting exposed to anti-fungal medications without their knowledge. E.g. almost all supermarket lemons/limes/oranges are coated in anti-fungal cream before being coated with another thin layer of wax, so when you make zest from them (or order a drink with zest at a bar) then you are probably reducing your body's ability to fight off things like this. So much…

There is utterly no epidemiological evidence that eating zest has anything to do with any kind of fungal infection.

Re: A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

#22

Post by jylertones »

Interesting to see this link about Bakersfield. I grew up there (15 years). I remember every year knowing people that got sick from it. It was kind of like the chicken pox where you'd just have to stay home for a week. From that perspective, this article feels completely blown out of proportion. But maybe we as locals all underestimated it.

Re: A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

#23

Post by adolgert »

rwmj wrote: post #4

Also, a new coronovirus in France and the middle east, which although it's killed 50% of the people who've caught it so far is probably not going to kill us all[1]. Also H7N9 (a new bird flu), although it's a bit of a lightweight having killed a mere 20% of sufferers. It may not spread human to human, although we don't know that, and this one hasn't yet reached "the West". [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-2317957…

For the coronovirus, people tend to check the type of infection only when the infection is bad. The people who have died all had comorbidities, meaning they were already sick with something else, so that 50% death rate is a result of a very strong observation bias and unlikely to be a characteristic of the disease.

Re: A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

#24

Post by _delirium »

healthenclave wrote: post #19
chime wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swimming in a lake here in Florida can kill you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naegleria_fowleri Personally, I prefer springs and oceans. So not too worried about that. Lakes around here are murky and full of gators any way.

Oh that disease due to a kind of Amoeba (Naegleria) is very bad because it actually almost always leads to death (post to meningo-encephalitis). 97-99% mortality unlike coccidioidomycosis (which is a little hyped in the article). They tried Amphotericin B in some case with limited success but the disease is always fatal :(

On the plus side, it's extremely rare. About three cases a year in the U.S. on average.

Re: A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

#25

Post by mehmehshoe »

healthenclave wrote: post #14

The article is actually a little sensationalist. Because Coccidioidomycosis is actually ENDEMIC to the western region of USA and Mexico. The rates do usually go up after earthquakes and storms that can lift up large amounts of dust up in the air. In most people the infection resolves itself (much like TB in healthy people). Some people might get pneumonia and rarely do healthy people get meningitis. The disease is se…

Not only storms or earthquakes...I would imagine Santa Ana winds would help this spread to the coastal regions.

Re: A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

#26

Post by healthenclave »

mehmehshoe wrote: post #25
healthenclave wrote: post #14

The article is actually a little sensationalist. Because Coccidioidomycosis is actually ENDEMIC to the western region of USA and Mexico. The rates do usually go up after earthquakes and storms that can lift up large amounts of dust up in the air. In most people the infection resolves itself (much like TB in healthy people). Some people might get pneumonia and rarely do healthy people get meningitis. The disease is se…

Not only storms or earthquakes...I would imagine Santa Ana winds would help this spread to the coastal regions.

Not very familiar with US geography but looks like your are correct :

(A) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_winds#Health%20effect...

(B) http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/diseases/Cocci.pdf - Check the comments section

(C) http://dust.ess.uci.edu/ppr/pst_ZeT04.pdf

Re: A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

#27

Post by sliverstorm »

tokenadult wrote: post #21
Alex3917 wrote: post #3

The problem also is that you have people who are constantly getting exposed to anti-fungal medications without their knowledge. E.g. almost all supermarket lemons/limes/oranges are coated in anti-fungal cream before being coated with another thin layer of wax, so when you make zest from them (or order a drink with zest at a bar) then you are probably reducing your body's ability to fight off things like this. So much…

There is utterly no epidemiological evidence that eating zest has anything to do with any kind of fungal infection.

Of course, that won't actually stop people from claiming there is.

Re: A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

#28

Post by SandB0x »

Alex3917 wrote: post #3

The problem also is that you have people who are constantly getting exposed to anti-fungal medications without their knowledge. E.g. almost all supermarket lemons/limes/oranges are coated in anti-fungal cream before being coated with another thin layer of wax, so when you make zest from them (or order a drink with zest at a bar) then you are probably reducing your body's ability to fight off things like this. So much…

Come on, do you have any references or sources for any of these claims? That seems a very flimsy inference.

Re: A Disease Without a Cure Spreads Quietly in the West

#29

Post by mey »

ck2 wrote: post #5

Well that article makes you feel horrifyingly hopeless. Somewhat related I've read that people who visit other countries for weeks at a time can also get all kinds of illnesses their immune system isn't familiar with, like Americans visiting Japan for a few weeks can catch all kinds of stomach viruses.

This is what I'd call sensationalist journalism. There are antifungal meds that deal with these type of infections, which are mentioned directly in the article.

A healthy immune system typically doesn't have an issue with this.

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