Lady Lilith Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 (edited) http://www.washingto...8849_story.html DENVER — The parents of 7-year-old Sierra Jane Downing thought she had the flu when she felt sick days after camping in southwest Colorado. It wasn’t until she had a seizure that her father knew something was seriously wrong and rushed her to a hospital in their town of Pagosa Springs. She had a 107-degree fever, and doctors were baffled by the cause “I didn’t know what was going on. I just reacted,” Sean Downing said. “I thought she died.” The Downings eventually learned their daughter was ill with one of the last things they would’ve thought: bubonic plague, a disease that wiped out one-third of Europe in the 14th century but is now exceedingly rare — it hasn’t been confirmed in Colorado since 2006 — and treatable if caught early. Federal health officials say they are aware of two other confirmed and one probable case of plague in the U.S. so far this year — an average year. The other confirmed cases were in New Mexico and Oregon, and the probable case also was in Oregon. None were fatal. Plague is generally transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas but also can be transmitted by direct contact with infected animals, including rodents, rabbits and pets. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that a series of frightening illnesses linked to insects and pests have been surfacing lately across the country, including mosquito-borne West Nile virus outbreaks in Texas and other states, deadly hantavirus cases linked to Yosemite National Park, and some scattered plague cases. But with some of the illnesses — like plague — this is not an unusually bad year; it’s just getting attention. And the number of cases of each disease is driven by different factors. “I don’t think there’s a confluence of any particular set of factors” driving the recent illness reports, said Kiersten Kugeler, a CDC epidemiologist in Colorado who tracks plague reports. In Sierra Jane’s case, a Pagosa Springs emergency room doctor who saw her late on Aug. 24 called other hospitals, some of whom thought she’d be fine the next day, before the girl was flown to Denver, Sean Downing said. There, a pediatric doctor at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children racing to save Sierra Jane’s life got the first inkling that she had bubonic plague. Dr. Jennifer Snow suspected the disease based on the girl’s symptoms, a history of where she’d been, and an online journal’s article on a teen with similar symptoms. Dr. Wendi Drummond, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the hospital, agreed and ordered a specific antibiotic for Sierra Jane while tests were run, later confirming their rare diagnosis. It was the first bubonic plague case Snow and her colleagues had seen. “I credit them for thinking outside the box,” said Dr. Tracy Butler, medical director of the hospital’s pediatric intensive unit. It’s not clear why Colorado hasn’t seen another human case until now, state public health veterinarian Elisabeth Lawaczeck said. By the night of Aug. 25, Sierra Jane’s heart rate was high, her blood pressure was low, and a swollen lymph node in her left groin was so painful it hurt to undergo the ultrasound that detected the enlarged node, Snow said. Doctors say the girl could be discharged from the hospital within a week. On Wednesday, Sierra Jane flashed a smile with two dimples as she faced reporters in a wheelchair, her pink-toed socks peeking out from the white blanket enveloping her as she held a brown teddy bear. “She’s just a fighter,” said her mother, Darcy Downing. Darcy Downing said her daughter may have been infected by insects near a dead squirrel she wanted to bury at their campground on U.S. Forest Service land, even though Darcy had warned her daughter to leave it alone. She remembered catching her daughter near the squirrel with her sweat shirt on the ground. Her daughter later had the shirt tied around her torso, where doctors spotted insect bites. The bubonic plague, or Black Death, killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe in the Middle Ages. Today, it can be treated with antibiotics, but it’s important to catch it early. “If she had stayed home, she could’ve easily died within 24 to 48 hours from the shock of infection,” Snow said. Hm...I had no idea this was still around. You'd think that with better sanitation/etc that this would have been avoided completely in the past few centuries. Edited September 6, 2012 by gamerm1337 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBomb Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I didn't knew that still existed. But well let's not compare the doctors and hospitals and medicines now with all that in the 14th Century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTIOX_ Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Maybe it's less to do with sanitation and more to do with the animals that poor sanitation attracted like rats for example. I knew cases like this do happen in poorer countries but in America!? I wonder if people still get it here in mighty England ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_Bee Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 (edited) See, that Mayans were right. It is the end of the world :o :o Everybody flood to the streets and panic lol. On a more serious note, this happens more than once a year in the US, that is crazy. Edited September 6, 2012 by Sir_Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTIOX_ Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 See, that Mayans were right. It is the end of the world :o :o Everybody flood to the streets and panic lol. YES i can go looting for more games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_Bee Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 YES i can go looting for more games lol, use the power while you can, I am sure the people at the power plants will try to route power for themselves so that they can survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piggie_Pie Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 wow, thats freakin nuts dood! amazing what one of the smallest insects on the planet can infect someone to the point of near death... and the fact that the plague wiped out that many people in the 14th century... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mophie13 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Yeah, it's still around, relatively rare and less deadly due to medicine these days. Scary she almost died though, you've got to be seriously careful if you ever go camping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolvie_181 Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 wow, thats freakin nuts dood! amazing what one of the smallest insects on the planet can infect someone to the point of near death... and the fact that the plague wiped out that many people in the 14th century... Indeed it did. Scary stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 ah the work of the devil again! always up to his old tricks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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