coinfection
Printed From: Avian Flu Talk
Category: Main Forums
Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Description: (General discussion regarding the next pandemic)
URL: http://www.avianflutalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=31993
Printed Date: April 26 2024 at 9:19pm
Topic: coinfection
Posted By: drumfish
Subject: coinfection
Date Posted: September 08 2014 at 7:47pm
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I wonder if a person could be coinfected with evd68 and eboli. I have read about questions from some regarding in air transfer with ebola. Then I read the post on EV-D 68. Then I wondered what that would look like. Just thinking aloud. Any thoughts? |
Replies:
Posted By: KiwiMum
Date Posted: September 08 2014 at 8:06pm
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Hi Drumfish, welcome to the site. I see no reason at all why someone couldn't be infected with more than one disease at a time. If anything, perhaps an immune system already weakened by one illness would be at risk from other illnesses because it is less likely to fight them off. Isn't this how some diseases mutate, by recombining with another virus and creating something new? ------------- Those who got it wrong, for whatever reason, may feel defensive and retrench into a position that doesn’t accord with the facts. |
Posted By: drumfish
Date Posted: September 08 2014 at 8:16pm
| I was probably not clear enough. I was trying to get at people perhaps producing more airborne droplets with a fast spreading respiratory illness wile also producing infective eboli virons. |
Posted By: drumfish
Date Posted: September 08 2014 at 8:17pm
| Oh and thank you for the welcome |
Posted By: Technophobe
Date Posted: September 09 2014 at 3:48am
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EVD stands for ebola virus disease. EV-D68 Stands for enterovirus disease number 68 of a series of inter-related viruses. The taxonomist that came up with the labels was obviously something of a prat. Co infection is very possible, but cross breeding is not. They are unrelated. To draw a parallel in the macroscopic world. EV-D 68 is a porcupine and EVD is a snake. They even look that different under an electron microscope. A person with both could produce a form of airborne transmission temporarily, due to the coughing and sneezing which comes with some enteroviruses. But they would be aerosolising unaffected ebola. Luckily ebola is not adapted to survival in such aerosols, hopefully it would not last as long in the environment. Of course, they would still be aerosolising the original enterovirus too, so they could pass on both simultaneously. You do raise a worring point here though. Ebola could pass undiagnosed for much longer in a co-infected host, as no one would look for it thinking that The fever and sore throat of the patient came from an enterovirus not ebola. Nice point drumfish! It got me thinking (not easy to do  ). Let's hope the medical profession does too.Welcome aboard! ------------- How do you tell if a politician is lying? His lips or pen are moving. |
Posted By: drumfish
Date Posted: September 09 2014 at 1:07pm
| I wish I had been more clear but you have put it the way I was thinking. Thank you. |
Posted By: Technophobe
Date Posted: September 09 2014 at 1:35pm
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You are welcome, drumfish. I hope you did not think I was nit-picking. I can't help it, communications are my forte. My most beloved job was actually translating from English into English (honestly! You have no idea how incoherent some people can be, especially when stressed). Some of my friends are convinced (inaccurately) that I am a telepath, both the benefit and the curse of good training. ------------- How do you tell if a politician is lying? His lips or pen are moving. |
Posted By: sleusha
Date Posted: September 09 2014 at 2:31pm
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I'm not worried so much about co-infection, but rather ebola going undetected because a doctor/hospital may "assume" a virus (EVD68 or others) or the seasonal flu are just that when in fact it could be ebola. I'm expecting, and hoping, doctor's offices and hospitals will step up to the plate this year and test any suspect fever if the flu or a virus is lurking about that is associated with fever and not just assume it is the flu or a virus. Many times doctors will not run the test for flu or virus if someone comes in sick. Maybe this year will be different. All it takes is a few doctors dropping the ball and not staying on their toes during viral and flu season and all hell can break lose. ------------- Be the positive change that you want to see. Live it, be it, push for it. |
Posted By: drumfish
Date Posted: September 09 2014 at 7:24pm
| I heard on TV a doc saying we may overload our testing resources |
Posted By: Jen147
Date Posted: September 10 2014 at 7:17am
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sleusha is right. We've seen it happen before. Assumption is also my fear for the next coming months. But testing for Ebola will never happen unless the US is covered with cases. They barely want to take the time to do the nasal swab for flu. Two blood tests are necessary to confirm ebola, am I correct? They'll never do it.
They won't know they have an ebola patient on their hands until the hemorrhaging starts. And Dr. Brantly said in his interview not every ebola patient has the bleeding. So it could be a bad situation. If a rapid flu test comes back negative, and we all know how accurate those are, they'll just say that person has some miscellaneous virus & send them home.
If they were to get a cluster in an area of the US, then that area's hospital's, clinics & Dr's offices might start testing. But not everyone everywhere.
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Posted By: Jen147
Date Posted: September 10 2014 at 7:27am
Probably true. With H1N1 their testing to confirm was so inefficient. By the time samples were sent to the CDC & tested & an answer sent back the person was already recovering and or in ICU where they pretty much suspected that was what was going on anyway. The CDC was so back logged with flu samples it was taking weeks to get results for just one test.
Rapid Flu Test accuracy can be as low as 50%.
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drumfish wrote:Posted By: onefluover
Date Posted: September 10 2014 at 8:32am
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The Ebola testing from Africa is about to become overwhelmed. Remember the tests themselves can kill the whole lab if not done in a very special way of which most testing locations are not set up for. The same would be true here. Recombining to a respiratory may only be possible with Reston which is primarily appearing in the Philippines which Ebola has the potential to race through. At some point seasonal flu and or H1N1 will coinfect with Ebola and then we've got a much bigger problem tracking and identifying. Another problem will be co infections that will make it even more lethal than it already is and will also make both easier to spread. Kind of a critical-mass situation. Prepare prepare prepare! ------------- "And then there were none." |