Skin lesions afflict troops in Iraq

USA Today ^ | December 4, 2003 | Anita Manning

[prairiebreeze]

Nearly 150 U.S. soldiers in Iraq have been diagnosed with a parasitic skin disease, and hundreds more could unknowingly be infected, doctors will report Friday. Doctors fear that soldiers returning from the front might consult doctors in the USA who have never seen the disease. Complicating matters: It has an incubation period of six months, on average, so a person infected in September may not show symptoms until March. Also, the best drug to treat it is not licensed in the USA.

[ElectricStrawberry]

It's a particualarly nasty though non-fatal infection.

ICK!!!

[FrogMom]

FrogDad came home from Desert Storm with some other crud that periodically makes the skin on his hands and feet pop out in tiny blisters that itch like hell. When he wakes himself up in the middle of the night scratching his hands, he knows it's time to go get another course of steroids from the doctor.

[Coop]

Putting the word out.

[Gritty]

FrogDad came home from Desert Storm with some other crud that periodically makes the skin on his hands and feet pop out in tiny blisters that itch like hell.

There's all kinds of weird stuff you can catch in places like that. When I came back I had that sort of crud on my legs for some time. It has mostly abated now, but it took a while. Very unpleasant.

[sam_paine]

What a God-forsaken hellhole that place is.

[FrogMom]

The peeling skin after the blisters is horrible.

He hasn't had an outbreak for a couple of years, now. Hope it stays that way.

[prairiebreeze]

My heartfelt thanks to FrogDad and all who have served our country.

Hope the skin problems clear up for good.

Prairie

[FrogMom]

Thank you, I'll pass that on to him!

We have a family tradition at Thanksgiving where each family member around the table says what it is for which they are most thankful. Military service by FrogDad, FrogSon, and FrogSonInLaw always get mentioned. This last Thanksgiving, when FrogDads first topic was FrogSonInLaws safe return from Baghdad, there wasn't a dry eye around.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thanks for the update. It's good to know the little suckers aren't active during the colder months, still, over 100 cases now. There were only 22 cases reported from 2002~> Oct. Our troops appear to need more powerful bug killers for late summer months in the ME.

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Since 2002, military health officials have reported 22 cases of the disease, with the majority being reported this year.

 

....there are two types of Leishmaniasis. The most common, but less serious, form is cutaneous Leishmaniasis, which causes lesions on the skin that may look like a volcano with a raised edge and center "crater" and may be covered with a scab, she said. "All of the military cases so far have been cutaneous," she added.

However, she said the more serious form of the disease -- visceral Leishmaniasis -- can affect the internal organs of the body, such as the spleen and liver, and can lead to death.

Sylvester said military people who have been infected with the disease are being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here, where doctors have set up a special treatment program just for the disease. People infected with the disease undergo a three-week drug regimen that "will eliminate the disease and take care of the infection," she said.

"I don't believe there is cause for alarm," Sylvester emphasized. "We had 22 cases in the last two years with all the people we've had deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq and throughout the entire Central Command area. So it's a very small number, given the total number of people deployed."  8 Blood Donations Halted From Personnel Deployed To Iraq [rare parasitic sand flea disease] ~ DoD | 10/21/03

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FrogMom, please tell your hero-hubby thanks for his service. I hope you're getting every test possible to determine what he brought home from Iraq.

[wjcsux]

We should have lit it up with nukes instead of sending our people there. The whole Middle East, except Israel really sucks.

[MEG33]

Tell Frog Dad and to you Gritty,thank you for serving our country.God bless our armed forces and all who wait at home.

[amir.esfahani]

Treatment Email ME