Legionnaires' kills Pittsburgh VA hospital patient
December 1, 2012
By Sean D. Hamill
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System declared Friday that the water system at its University Drive hospital in Oakland is now clear of Legionnaires' disease-causing bacteria that has killed at least one patient.
At the same time, however, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that while it has only confirmed that five cases of Legionnaires' originated in the hospital's water system, there have been another 24 cases of Legionnaires' reported at the hospital since January 2011 -- eight cases in which patients picked up the disease from outside the hospital and another 16 that the VA is not sure where patients contracted the disease.
One of the five who got Legionnaires' at the hospital has died, and the family of another patient who died thinks he may have contracted the disease at the hospital.
read more here
Showing posts with label deadly infections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deadly infections. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Deadly infection claims San Francisco VA lab worker
Deadly infection claims San Francisco VA lab worker
By Matt O'Brien
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 05/03/2012
State and federal health officials are investigating how a rare and virulent bacteria strain appears to have killed a young researcher at a VA hospital's infectious diseases lab in San Francisco, setting off alarms that the man's friends and fellow researchers may have also been exposed.
The 25-year-old laboratory researcher at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center died Saturday morning shortly after asking friends to take him to the hospital. For the week and months before his death, he had been handling a bacteria linked to deadly bloodstream infections at the VA hospital's Northern California Institute for Research and Education, said Peter Melton, a spokesman for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The man, whose name has not been released, was working with fellow researchers to develop a vaccine for a bacterial strain that causes septicemia and meningitis. Hours after he left work, however, the germ that he was studying took his own life.
"He left the lab around 5 p.m." Friday, said Harry Lampiris, chief of the VA hospital's infectious diseases division. "He had no symptoms at all."
read more here
By Matt O'Brien
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 05/03/2012
State and federal health officials are investigating how a rare and virulent bacteria strain appears to have killed a young researcher at a VA hospital's infectious diseases lab in San Francisco, setting off alarms that the man's friends and fellow researchers may have also been exposed.
The 25-year-old laboratory researcher at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center died Saturday morning shortly after asking friends to take him to the hospital. For the week and months before his death, he had been handling a bacteria linked to deadly bloodstream infections at the VA hospital's Northern California Institute for Research and Education, said Peter Melton, a spokesman for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The man, whose name has not been released, was working with fellow researchers to develop a vaccine for a bacterial strain that causes septicemia and meningitis. Hours after he left work, however, the germ that he was studying took his own life.
"He left the lab around 5 p.m." Friday, said Harry Lampiris, chief of the VA hospital's infectious diseases division. "He had no symptoms at all."
read more here
Monday, September 7, 2009
Deadly Infection Almost Destroys Woman's Face
You need to take infections seriously. I am prone to sinus infections. It got to the point whenever I caught a cold, I was ready to make an appointment for the infection I knew would surely follow. Naturally my body decided to play a dirty trick on me and decided that it would no long attack the same part of my sinuses. It decided to hide behind my eyes.
One morning I was shocked when I felt a pop and then my eyes went out of control widely moving all over to the point when I was sure I had just had a stroke. It was impossible to get up out of bed until it settled down enough. I called the doctor and after tests, he told me it was an infection behind my eyes.
Do not put off going to get medical care if you have an infection. Take this lesson from this woman and what happened to her seriously.
One morning I was shocked when I felt a pop and then my eyes went out of control widely moving all over to the point when I was sure I had just had a stroke. It was impossible to get up out of bed until it settled down enough. I called the doctor and after tests, he told me it was an infection behind my eyes.
Do not put off going to get medical care if you have an infection. Take this lesson from this woman and what happened to her seriously.
Deadly Infection Almost Destroys Woman's Face
By Ashley Neglia
If treated early, a routine sinus infection may cause uncomfortable pressure, nasal congestion and often makes a patient feel generally miserable. For the most part, however, sinus infections don't leave people near-death, unless, of course, you happen to be Sue Carlisle.
It was October 2006, and Carlisle was suffering from the symptoms of a sinus infection. The 49-year-old had experienced similar infections in the past and assumed that the steroids she had been previously prescribed would be enough to get her back on her feet. However, when she went to the doctor, the diagnosis was more dire than she ever imagined. Carlisle's face was infected with mucormycosis, a rare and deadly infection that can affect the sinuses, brain or lungs, reports ABC News.
Click below to watch an interview with Sue Carlisle.
Video courtesy of ABC News.
go here for more and video
Deadly Infection Almost Destroys Womans Face
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sanford woman settles lawsuit in flesh-eating-bacteria case
Sanford woman settles lawsuit in flesh-eating-bacteria case
Rene Stutzman Sentinel Staff Writer
6:51 PM EDT, May 18, 2009
SANFORD - The mother who entered a Longwood maternity ward, delivered a healthy baby boy and suddenly became so sick with flesh-eating bacteria that doctors wound up amputating both arms and legs has settled her lawsuit against the hospital.
Claudia Mejia Edwards of Sanford, will receive an undisclosed sum from Orlando Regional Healthcare System Inc., now called Orlando Health, according to court records. So will the baby she delivered, Matthew Edwards, 4, and her older son, Jorge Mejia Valle, a fifth grader.
The amount is a secret, said her attorney, Ron Gilbert. Hospital company Jennings L. Hurt III on Monday confirmed the settlement but declined comment.
Mejia, 27, was admitted to Orlando Regional South Seminole Hospital in Longwood on April 28, 2005, and that morning delivered a healthy boy, Matthew.
Over the next few hours, she developed a rash, fever, chills and other symptoms, according to her suit. The next day, she was in extreme pain, but the hospital tried to discharge her, according to the suit. Her husband, Timothy B. Edwards, refused to leave.
The day after that, doctors performed exploratory surgery and discovered gangrene in her belly.
She was transferred to Orlando Regional Medical Center, but her condition worsened. She went into shock, lost consciousness and her kidneys began to shut down.
Doctors eventually concluded her body was being ravaged by flesh-eating bacteria, also known as Group A Streptococcal infection. They amputated all four limbs, hoping to save her life.
go here for more
Sanford woman settles lawsuit in flesh-eating-bacteria case
Rene Stutzman Sentinel Staff Writer
6:51 PM EDT, May 18, 2009
SANFORD - The mother who entered a Longwood maternity ward, delivered a healthy baby boy and suddenly became so sick with flesh-eating bacteria that doctors wound up amputating both arms and legs has settled her lawsuit against the hospital.
Claudia Mejia Edwards of Sanford, will receive an undisclosed sum from Orlando Regional Healthcare System Inc., now called Orlando Health, according to court records. So will the baby she delivered, Matthew Edwards, 4, and her older son, Jorge Mejia Valle, a fifth grader.
The amount is a secret, said her attorney, Ron Gilbert. Hospital company Jennings L. Hurt III on Monday confirmed the settlement but declined comment.
Mejia, 27, was admitted to Orlando Regional South Seminole Hospital in Longwood on April 28, 2005, and that morning delivered a healthy boy, Matthew.
Over the next few hours, she developed a rash, fever, chills and other symptoms, according to her suit. The next day, she was in extreme pain, but the hospital tried to discharge her, according to the suit. Her husband, Timothy B. Edwards, refused to leave.
The day after that, doctors performed exploratory surgery and discovered gangrene in her belly.
She was transferred to Orlando Regional Medical Center, but her condition worsened. She went into shock, lost consciousness and her kidneys began to shut down.
Doctors eventually concluded her body was being ravaged by flesh-eating bacteria, also known as Group A Streptococcal infection. They amputated all four limbs, hoping to save her life.
go here for more
Sanford woman settles lawsuit in flesh-eating-bacteria case
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)