IRAQ: Leishmaniasis affecting children in south

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: IRIN

BAGHDAD, 11 February 2008 (IRIN) - Over 180 children have been affected with Baghdad boil disease, or leishmaniasis, in Iraq’s southern province of Qadissiyah, about 130km south of Baghdad, local officials said.

Leishmaniasis is known by different local names, including oriental sore, Aleppo button, Jericho boil and Delhi boil. In its most unpleasant form - visceral leishmaniasis - organ failure and death can result.

The disease’s incubation period is up to six months, so thousands could have the disease without knowing it.

“It is a dangerous disease which hits mostly children and could lead to death or leave skin deformities if no appropriate treatment is available,” said Fatih Abdul-Salam, a dermatologist at Qadissiyah General Hospital. He said leishmaniasis is transmitted by the bite of the midge-like female phlebotomine sandflies - tiny sand-coloured blood-sucking flies.

“The disease has spread because of the lack of medical measures in the province and the lack of medicines, as most of those available have expired,” Abdul-Salam said.



Read more: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=76667

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[alfredo]

1. our soldiers will be bringing home so many diseases, including

STD's.

[pitohui]

3. they can't transmit this disease to us at home

it's spread by sand flies -- soldiers are not going to come home and infect their families and friends with this, no use spreading fear

very important if you've been bitten by a sandfly and have a persistent sore of this type to talk to a doctor who has experience in treating tropical diseases, you don't want the doctor to assume you have say a skin cancer and not give you the right treatment, as i have heard occasionally happens with tourists who have acquired it in central america

i know a guy who acquired it in guatemala in the field, for some reason the treatment was a metal (actually he said arsenic but i just checked and it was likely antimony) and the treatment itself almost killed him, but it looks like they have a good new treatment now

i had the impression that you were FAR more likely to pick this up in central america on some beach with too many sand flies than in iraq, but probably just goes to show my ignorance of the different types of countries and environments where these pests can live

[alfredo]

4. I was talking in general. They will inadvertently bring back an

insect or a parasite. I did when I returned from Africa. We had problems with fleas and lice. I think I picked up lice in Senegal or Tanzania. Could have picked it up from the Pan Am flight home.

It's not fear, its a fact of life,

[UncleSepp]

7. My mom's neighbor brought home a weird exotic parasite

Mom had a lump under her skin that grew, got itchy, and then burst. A bunch of insect larvae came out of it. At the hospital, someone who wasn't a doctor (patient care tech maybe?) recognized it from his home country as a parasite that lays eggs in the skin. Fortunately, he also knew how to take care of the wound. The best guess of how she got this thing was that her neighbor, who traveled rather often to South Africa and also to somewhere in Central America, brought some back stuck in the dirt in his shoe and then transferred it to the garden.

I have always wondered why it isn't required for people to wash their hands and clean their shoes before getting on airplanes. It would be such a simple thing to do, and it could cut down on unnecessary transmission of disease and parasites. For that matter, I also don't understand why there aren't boxes of disposable booties in hospital lobbies, so that people can put them on their shoes and not track hospital germs back into their houses. My mom, and other people who work in hospitals, always take care to sanitize their work shoes before bringing them in the house or else jus leave them in the car.

[pitohui]

9. sounds like botfly

unfortunately people already have too many things to do when getting on airplanes, as it is, thieves walk off with "stuff" every day while we're fumbling to put our shoes back on and if they're caught, they're not even arrested, because they just bat their eyes and say, oops, they must have picked up the wrong bag!

yeah, right, one lady i know had to chase down a thief who took her laptop, like the thief didn't know she hadn't put a laptop thru security, she knew very well that she was stealing

there's just no way that we can be dumping our shoes in cleaning chemicals, instead of bins, and still have the area safe and dry enough for our other luggage, such as our electronics, cameras, laptops, and so on

[pitohui]

8. i know you were talking in general

i was just offering some clarification about this particular disease which, while unpleasant and even life-threatening in the wrong situation, probably never stopped even one person from traveling to central america

life is risk, well, as a traveler, you know that!

[alfredo]

10. I just wanted to make sure you understand I wasn't trying to

whip up fear of exotic diseases.

[otherlander]

2. kick

[otherlander]

5. .

:kick:

[truthisfreedom]

6. Certainly we can afford to send them medication for this highly-specific desease.

How many billions of dollars does it take to keep that country in the stone age?