My Twitter feed today is alive with so much infectious disease related news that I’m having a major ID NERD moment. Therefore I’m sharing!
New AIDS-like Disease in Asians, Not Contagious
This first news item made me wonder if I had fallen behind in my medical journal reading because it’s the first I am hearing of it. It’s apparently a new acquired immune deficiency of adults in which the sick make auto-antibodies against interferon-gamma leaving them vulnerable to various viral, fungal, bacterial, and mycobacterial infections. The index case stems back to 2004 and all the patients so far are Asian-born.
No difference between Arthroscopic Surgery and Placebo
I was surprised to see this because it is from a 2002 publication yet I consult on quite a few patients who have developed infections after having an arthroscopic procedure on their knee for osteoarthritis. I was left to wonder if there is no difference then why do orthopaedic surgeons still routinely do this procedure. I mean they’ve known for about a decade now that it may not be any better than placebo.
Then I remembered that orthopaedic surgeons typically pull in over twice my income and this is one of the ways to achieve that. I would hate to be that unfortunate middle-aged functional person who goes in for a knee arthroscopy, develops an infection, requires multiple debridements (washouts in the operating room), weeks of intravenous antibiotics and possible complications that come with that (PICC infection or clot, allergic reaction to the antibiotic), only to develop osteomyelitis and eventually an amputation of that limb resulting in permanent disability. Yes, this is just a scenario, but a very real possibility.
Hantavirus scare in Yosemite
When you are in a confined space with poor air circulation and breath in dust particles contaminated with rodent excrement, urine, or saliva you run the risk of acquiring Hantavirus. I would suspect that the layperson’s response to this news would be something like “how could this happen?…how could the national park system not prevent this?” To that I respond if you want a wilderness experience (camping in the open or in cabins) then expect to come in contact with “wilderness infections”.
Hantaviruses (yes plural) are carried by about 20% of deer mice in the southwestern US. In humans, it causes a life-threatening infection (30-50% mortality), that initially mimics influenza but progresses into acute respiratory failure and cardiogenic shock. Essentially your lungs fill up with liquid and you basically drown in your own bodily fluids. There is no treatment just supportive care.
Now I will admit that when I was living in Boston as a poor infectious disease fellow, my apartment was infested with mice and as I routinely cleaned up their droppings I was fearful of acquiring a Hantavirus infection. Yes, sometimes physicians are the biggest hypochondriacs. Lol!
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