Posted on 12/16/2002 3:04:28 PM PST by RCW2001
Dec. 16
— SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Reuters) - A flesh-eating bacteria has killed at least one young recruit at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California and made 100 others ill, military officials said on Monday.
The bacteria, known as Group A streptococcus, also may be responsible for the unexplained deaths of two other teenage recruits at the training base since late November, officials said.
Strep A is a common bacteria people carry in their throats even when they're not sick. The bacteria commonly causes sore throats but can evolve into necrotizing fasciitis, the so-called flesh-eating bacteria, characterized by a flat red rash over large parts of the body.
About 6,000 others on the base, which trains about half of the U.S. Marine Corps' recruits each year, were tested for exposure to the bacteria and received antibiotics over the weekend, Lt. Mike Friel said.
Some 100 personnel who showed symptoms of Strep A infections or signs that they were carriers were hospitalized over the weekend, but many of them have returned to their units, Friel said.
Base officials are considering calling off training at the depot until they can solve the health crisis.
The latest death, that of 18-year-old Private Miguel Zavala of Greenfield, California, came on Sunday just three hours after Zavala sought medical treatment for a rash on his left ankle.
"While at the acute care area, the rash spread to the rest of his body," Friel said. "He was then taken to the Naval Medical Center in San Diego for evaluation and emergency medical care."
Four days earlier, Private Samuel Bruss of Kenosha, Wisconsin, died after completing a water survival training course. He had complained of chest pains after getting out of the base's swimming pool.
On Nov. 24, Private Neal Edwards, 18, of St. Clair, Missouri, died after collapsing during an obstacle course.
"Are they related? The answer to that is unknown," Friel said.
Strep A is a well-known enemy of U.S. military troops, who live and work in close proximity. The San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot commonly inoculates the 20,000 recruits it trains annually twice during their 13-week basic training to tamp down the disease, Friel said.
"This is something we have had a problem with since World War One," Friel said. The last outbreak of Strep A at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot was in 1991, he said.
HISTORICAL FACTS EXPOSING THE DANGERS AND INEFFECTIVENESS OF VACCINES
My brother-in-law had and survived necrotizing fasciitis (the "flesh eating" disease) last April.
Early signs and symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis;
Fever
Severe pain and swelling
Redness at the wound site
Early signs and symptoms of STSS;
Fever
Dizziness
Confusion
A flat red rash over large areas of the body
Both caused by the Strep A bacteria but different results. Get the Facts Here
Someone went to the dispensery with a virilent strain of strep. Recruits receiving vaccinations at that location were injected with vaccines that weakened their immune systems, thus, they were more susceptable to infection. Being there was strep bacteria at the dispensery, some of the more immunocompromised became infected.
BTW: I have not as of yet been able to find substantial evidence refuting the material you have been posting.
I just got another article from Sunday's paper in harmony with them.
Truth is stranger than fiction..
Marine Corps curtails recruit training in wake of private's death
LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
Monday, December 16, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/12/16/state1635EST0083.DTL
(12-16) 16:18 PST SAN DIEGO (AP) --
One of the nation's two Marine Corps training centers imposed a three-day suspension of strenuous physical activity for 4,600 recruits Monday following the sudden death of an 18-year-old private who may have succumbed to a potentially lethal bacteria.
An outbreak of Strep A at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot began last week and has affected more than 100 people. One drill instructor and 49 recruits remained hospitalized Monday, officials said. One recruit was in intensive care.
The 72-hour interruption to the training schedule is designed "to ensure that anybody who could be sick isn't overtaxed," said Maj. Kimberly Miller, a base spokeswoman.
The death of Pvt. Miguel Zavala on Sunday was the third recruit death at the base in as many weeks. Zavala died of an as-yet unspecified bacterial infection that could have been Strep A, officials said Monday as they awaited more detailed results of an autopsy.
The two previous deaths, which came after the victims completed strenuous training exercises, were due to heart and lung conditions, not bacterial infections, officials said Monday.
Strep A is a bacteria that can cause necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease. As a result, thousands of recruits were inoculated with antibiotics on Sunday.
Base commanders and Marine doctors stopped short of ordering a complete "stand down" that would have ceased all training at the base, where young men from the western United States are instructed, Miller said.
Instead, they plan to monitor recruits and staff members for signs of illness while continuing classroom and other activities that do not require physical exertion, Lt. Mike Friel said.
The action came less than 24 hours after the death of Zavala, of Greenfield, who died just hours after he developed pneumonia-like symptoms and a rash that quickly spread from his ankle to the rest of his body.
Zavala went to the base clinic about 9 a.m. Sunday and died about four hours later. An autopsy was conducted Monday at the Naval Regional Medical Center.
Previously, Pvt. Neal Edwards, 18, of St. Clair, Mo., died of a heart ailment, and Pvt. Samuel J. Bruss, 19, of Kenosha, Wis., died when his lungs filled with fluid, officials said.
The ban on strenuous activity means that recruits will not be able to run, swim, tackle obstacle courses or practice martial arts until the suspension is lifted later this week, Friel said.
©2002 Associated Press
Actually, I didn't quite answer that in my last response. I'd say, with the reduction in stress, the chances of the recruits immune systems rejecting the infection are enhanced.
I can't really go beyond that, as I don't want to give the appearance of giving out medical advice..
My sincerest condolences to Mrs. Perez.
There is a war going on, and when a child goes off to basic training parents lose sleep over the many ways a young troop can lose his or her life. Flesh-eating bacteria wasn't on my list, until now.
I have two sons at Parris Island.
Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, died Wednesday. His death was attributed to "galloping pneumonia" that resulted in multi- organ failure.
Sounds like it could be the STSS form of strep A. Have never heard of galloping pneumonia before.
What my BIL had was so fast acting we couldn't believe it. In about 24 hours time his right elbow area went from just a little red and tender to red and purple with clear blisters that turned to a sick reddish brown color before they broke to an area about 10 inches long and half way around his arm that had turned black where the flesh had died.
From what I've heard the STSS works just as fast. This young man could have carried the bacteria for a long time before something set it off. From what my BIL had something as simple as a bump could have triggered the bacteria.
If you are referring to the organism related to this incident, it isn't a virus, it IS just strep, which is a bacteria.
BTW: I've had this cough for several months, and it just doesn't seem to go away, and I've taken several different pills for it and, I ...
If you've already seen a doctor, find a different one and get a second opinion..
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