Bacterium infecting troops from Iraq, Afghanistan

[Moloch]

SAN ANTONIO- Government health officials are urging stronger infection control procedures in military hospitals following a number of infections among troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii, which is resistant to most antibiotic drugs, could be infecting troops on the battlefield and ending up in field hospitals along with casualties from conflicts in the Middle East, a doctor says. The infection's spread in hospitals prompted health officials to stress better infection control methods.

Dr. David Dooley, director of infection control at Brooke Army Medical Center, and several other military physicians wrote on the growing number of such infections in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a scientific journal published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

http://www.sanangelostandardtimes.com/sast/news_national/article/0,1897,SAST_4957_3366294,00.html

[NEOBuckeye]

1. ChemWar at work

I doubt if this is a coincidence.

[Rumba]

3. Huh?

[NEOBuckeye]

6. Sorry. Just short for "chemical warfare"

[NYC]

2. There's a difference between colonization and infection.

Some info:

http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/biowissenschaften_chemie/bericht-24693.html

Acinetobacter baumannii, the hospital opportunist

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen operating in hospitals creating serious infections such as pneumonia. It principally affects patients who have weakened health and this is why we call it opportunistic. Moreover, the mortality rate from these infections are usually high given, on the one hand, the weakness of the patient and, on the other, A. baumannii is resistant to many antibiotics. Furthermore, once a specific course of treatment is prescribed for A. Baumannii, the pathogen has a great capacity for acquiring resistance to these antibiotics...


http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3456.htm

...Although Acinetobacter primarily is a colonizer in the hospital environment, occasionally it causes infection. Mortality and morbidity resulting from A baumannii infection relate to the underlying cardiopulmonary immune status of the host rather than the inherent virulence of the organism.

[jamesinca]

4. A. baumannii is found in soil and water

It is also cultured off of skin and mucous membranes. It is also found in the water of room humidifiers. It tends to be opportunistic, hence it will get the immune depressed or compromised. Those with wounds and burns are very vulnerable. Acinetobacter strains respond most commonly to gentamicin, amikamicin or tobramycin and to newer penicillins or cephalosporins.

[depakid]

5. This was in the MMWR about 2 weeks ago

Here's the link:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5345a1.htm

It's a pretty safe bet that both the physical and emotional trauma of war have weakened these patients' normal immune response to the bacteria.