Just a question

[Mari333]

Michael has been home from Iraq for a couple months..last night I spent the evening in ER with him, he had a fever of 102.2, was dehydrated, glassy eyed, tired, back pain, and abdominal pain. He was put on an IV and they did a CT scan to check his abdomen.
Doc said he must have a virus. Nonetheless, I let them know he just got back from Iraq...
I also let them know he had anthrax injections before he went (3 of them)
He said he fainted the other day from weakness.
The Doc also did standard blood tests. Nothing showed up.
Anyone know , if he becomes sick again, what I should mention to the doc about what Michael could have picked up in Iraq? Michael was always pretty healthy before he went there.

[Steel City Slim]

1. Tell Them As Much As You Can

See what information you can get from the military.

My Thoughts are with Michael.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. There WAS a drug resistant strain of pneumonia

that was affecting the troops in the last year. I'll have to check the LBN archives..unless another DU'er saved it. Has he been chronically ill or is this new?

[Mari333]

3. This is new

thanks..Ill keep my eyes open for that thread.
I just want to keep his medical records on file in case he is suffering from something other then a virus.

[sui generis]

4. does he have anything resembling flea bites?

he could have a variant of erlichiosis or even some other exotic parasitic infection from local insect bites.

The erlichiosis variants are prion infections resulting after certain kinds of insect bites and likely will only respond to doxicycline therapy.

Mention it to the doctor he'll do a CBC first to check his blood count and see if it's symptomatic of that kind of infection.

[Mari333]

6. I mentioned that to the doc

But I dont think he considered it. Its a small small hospital. Ill ask Michael today . It might just be a viral infection (he has been very stressed since he got back), and his immune system is probably not in great shape.

[goodboy]

5. I've heard of that fever thing going around recently...if i find

out more, I'll let you know.

[dave123williams]

7. Could be DU poisoning...

No, not Democratic Underground poisioning; depleted uranium.

Have him tested for exposure to DU. Chronic fatigue is a symptom of this kind of poisoning, as is abdominal pain (usually from kidney problems). DU is very nasty stuff, and we're aerating it by the ton over there.

If they refuse to do it, you can get a geiger counter pretty cheap. Just google for 'geiger counter for sale'.

If he's been exposed, your counter will light up like a christmas tree.

Other tests include:

* chemical analysis of uranium in urine, feces, blood and hair;

* tests of damage to kidneys, including analysis for protein, glucose and non-protein nitrogen in urine;

* radioactivity counting (discussed above)

* more invasive tests such as surgical biopsy of lung or bone marrow.

Experience with Gulf War veterans indicates that a 24 hour urine collection analysis shows the most promise of detecting depleted uranium contamination seven or eight years after exposure. However, since this test only measures the amount of depleted uranium which has been circulating in the blood or kidneys within one or two weeks prior to the testing time, rather than testing the true body burden, it cannot be directly used to reconstruct the veteran's dose received during the Gulf War. However, this seems to be the best diagnostic tool at this time, eight years after the exposure.

Feces tests for uranium are used for rapid detection of intake in an emergency situation, and in order to be useful for dose reconstruction, must be undertaken within hours or days of the exposure. Blood and fecal analysis are not advised except immediately after a known large intake of uranium.

Whole body counting for uranium, using the sodium iodide or hyper pure germanium detectors, is designed to detect the isotope uranium 235, the isotope of uranium partially removed from depleted uranium. For lung counting, again it is the uranium 235 which is detected, and the minimum detection limit is about 7.4 Bq or 200 pCi. Since normally humans take in only 5 Bq per year, this is not a very sensitive measure. Seven or eight years after the Gulf War exposure, this method of detection is most likely useless for veterans.

Routine blood counts shortly after exposure, or during a chelating process for decontamination of the body are useful. This is not a search for uranium in blood, but rather a complete blood count with differential. This is done to discover potentially abnormal blood counts, since the stem cells which produce the circulating lymphocytes and erythrocytes are in the bone marrow, near to where uranium is normally stored in the body. The monocyte stem cells in bone marrow are known to be among the most radiosensitive cells. Their depletion can lead to both iron deficient anemia, since they recycle heme from discarded red blood cells, and to depressed cellular immune system, since monocytes activate the lymphocyte immune system after they detect foreign bodies.

Hair tests need to be done very carefully since they tend to reflect the hair products used: shampoos, conditioners, hair coloring or permanent waves. Pubic hair would likely be the best material for analysis. I am not aware of good standards against which to test the Uranium content of hair, or how the analysis would differentiate between the various uranium isotopes.

Testing of lymph nodes or bone on autopsy would be helpful. However, invasive biopsies on live patients carry no benefit for the patient and are usually not recommended because of ethical considerations about experimentation on humans. If a veteran is recommended for bronchoscopy for medical reasons, it would be advisable to also take tissue samples for analysis for depleted uranium.

When chelation processes have been initiated the rate of excretion of uranium in urine will be increased and there is a risk of damage to kidney tubules. Therefore careful urine analysis for protein, glucose and non-protein nitrogen in important. Some researchers have also reported specifically finding B-2-microglobulinuria and aminoaciduria in urine due to uranium damage.