Posted on 12/21/2004 12:09:33 PM PST by jdm
CHICAGO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A rare and sometimes deadly pneumonia has hit 18 U.S. soldiers deployed in Iraq, and Army medical investigators are at a loss to explain the cause, according to a study published on Tuesday.
In a report appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center said two of the soldiers had died from the rare illness, called acute eosinophilic pneumonia, or AEP.
No common source was found for the outbreak that occurred between March 2003 and March 2004 among the soldiers in Iraq. The study covered only that time period and there was no indication whether cases have continued to show up since then.
The 18 victims studied ranged in age from 19 to 47 and all used tobacco, with three-quarters recently taking up the habit. All but one reported "significant exposure to fine airborne sand or dust" while in Iraq.
While only 18 cases have been reported among 183,000 troops deployed in Iraq during the time period involved, the authors said the cases are still significant because the disease is very rare in the general population.
The illness was not immediately diagnosed in several victims, who suffered fever and respiratory failure. Several had to be put on mechanical ventilators to help them breathe and were administered corticosteroids. Months later, a few reported continued breathing problems or wheezing.
"Inquiries to the Iraqi health officials did not suggest that AEP was occurring in the local population or that there has been an unusual increase in the incidence of pneumonia of any kind during the study period," the report said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.netscape.cnn.com ...
Don't our troups use depleted uranium as weapons... I hope that is'nt the cause?
Some ordnance, and some armor is made of DU!
What can occur when that stuff goes up in flames......the military isn't telling, so far.
I wonder if these soldiers were buying cigs from the Iraqis...The troops have been ordered not to buy from them...my hubby caught several of his troopers doing this at the fence of his base and confiscated them....
That's probably the cause. A bedouin sneezes on one of our guys, and it could cause an epidemic.
May I gently point out that the story is one year old?
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