December 12, 2007
New bug. Be aware
Virus Starts Like a Cold But Can Turn Into a Killer - washingtonpost.com:
Posted by John Weidner at December 12, 2007 06:57 AM | TrackBack
....Gilbert alerted state health officials, a decision that led investigators to realize that a new, apparently more virulent form of a virus that usually causes nothing worse than a nasty cold was circulating around the United States. At least 1,035 Americans in four states have been infected so far this year by the virus, known as an adenovirus. Dozens have been hospitalized, many requiring intensive care, and at least 10 have died.
Health officials say the virus does not seem to be causing life-threatening illness on a wide scale, and most people who develop colds or flulike symptoms are at little or no risk. Likewise, most people infected by the suspect adenovirus do not appear to become seriously ill. But the germ appears to be spreading, and investigators are unsure how much of a threat it poses.....
Comments
A virus is not generally called a germ, as here. Is it a different virus (is there a pattern of contact in the spread) or is it that different people react differently to the same common virus?
Posted by: doug in Colorado at December 12, 2007 08:45 AMSeems to be a common adenovirus that has mutated to be more virulent, but only for some people. Others just get a cold.
So probably there is not much that can be done to stop it.
Posted by: John Weidner at December 12, 2007 11:16 AMHmm. I got a particularly nasty cold this year— it actually kept me out of work, and Evil Rob was out with it twice when he relapsed. But I don't think this is the same one since I'm in the Central Valley. But in general, anything that makes it hard to breathe should be a reason to visit the doctor.
Posted by: B. Durbin at December 13, 2007 06:22 PM
