Aa
Urgent question - any help welcomed
Hello, my mother-in-law is in intensive care in hospital with a mysterious illness that has caused massive respiratory failure. The doctors are stumped right now, and a raft of medical tests keep coming back negative. Any thoughts anyone has would be welcome. Briefly - she started developing acute pain which seemed to resemble a pinched nerve or carpal tunnel syndrome around a month ago. At the same time, she started experiencing shortness of breath. Doctors seem unsure whether these are coincidences or not. The shortness of breath got worse and worse as did the hand and neck pain. She was diagnosed with pneumonia, but the antibiotics had no effect. A chest x-ray showed cavitating lesions and a build-up of fluid. The shortness of breath got worse and worse to the point where she was admitted and ultimately sent to ICU. She's now on a ventilator but still having trouble keeping blood-oxygen levels high. A bronchoscopy was done, but her lungs appear to be hemmoraging. She has very high non-specific inflammation markers, and tests for tuberculosis came back negative. Doctors are checking out immune disorders, and number of fungi - but they still have no answers and time is . Just wondering if anybody might have any thoughts of directions to look?
has she been given a cat scan of her neck? i had double collapsed vertebra that impinged a nerve that ran down my arm. omg!!!i never want to experience that pain again! i ended up having emergency surgery to fuse my neck. similiar can cause shortness of breath due to swelling. if she has pnemonia, she may have bronchiectasis. this can cause horrible bleeds.
i hope they find the answer soon!
take care
happi
i hope they find the answer soon!
take care
happi
hanta virus has no specific symptoms until later usually within 2 weeks from exposure but could take the symptoms you may feel are that of a pillow being jammed over your face that's why the fatality rate is so high because a lot of the time symptoms are non specific making early symptoms easily misdiagnosed hope this helps and may god be with you and your family through these tragic times.
MiraVista Diagnostics renowned as leader in histoplasmosis testing
Posted by: "tigerpaw2c" ***@**** tigerpaw2c
Thu May 29, 2008 3:32 am (PDT)
Specialized lab is special indeed
MiraVista Diagnostics renowned as leader in histoplasmosis testing
Indianapolis Star,IN*
By Shari Rudavsky
May 27, 2008
http://www.indystar .com/apps/ pbcs.dll/ article?
AID=/20080527/ BUSINESS/ 805270327/ 1003/BUSINESS
A In the late 1970s Indianapolis earned the distinction of being
home to the country's largest outbreak of histoplasmosis, a fungal
infection that causes flu-like symptoms.
At the time, 435 people were sickened after they inhaled soil spores
contaminated by bird droppings. The outbreak convinced an
entrepreneur to open a laboratory that would test for the infection.
Today, MiraVista Diagnostics, the company started by a former
Indiana University School of Medicine physician, leads the nation in
performing tests for histoplasmosis and a handful of other fungal
infections.
In six years MiraVista has doubled its staff from a startup crew of
six to 13 employees. The company is based at a modest office near
Indianapolis International Airport.
Behind it all is Dr. Joseph Wheat, considered the nation's leading
expert on histoplasmosis.
"Both Dr. Wheat and his laboratory are a national resource," said
Dr. Thomas Walsh of the National Cancer Institute. "They address the
clinical and laboratory needs for developing diagnostic assays for
some of the most serious and life-threatening mycoses (fungal
infections) that we encounter."
Before Wheat's method of testing, doctors had no easy way to
diagnose histoplasmosis, a potentially lethal condition. With
previous testing, diagnoses took weeks, giving the disease more time
to progress.
When the Indiana outbreak hit, Wheat was in the early years of his
career as an infectious disease specialist at IU, studying
staphylococcus, a common bacteria. He also had been an Air Force
physician stationed in California, where he treated about 30
patients with a disease known as San Joaquin Fever, which is similar
to histoplasmosis.
In Indiana an estimated 70 percent of people have been exposed to
histoplasmosis, health experts say. Most healthy people, however,
will never be diagnosed because the infection clears up without
medical attention.
But people with compromised immune systems, such as those with HIV
or organ transplants, may develop more serious symptoms. People who
are exposed to high doses of the spores can become seriously ill.
Wheat spent years looking for a better, faster test to diagnose
histoplasmosis. Eventually, he devised one that produces results
within hours, and he used his own money to start the company.
Named after his first grandchild MiraBella, Wheat's company
originally ran about 500 histoplasmosis tests a week. Today it does
about three times as many.
Samples that arrive at MiraVista on Monday mornings are tested the
same day and results are returned by afternoon, allowing the lab to
get results to a physician within 24 hours. That speed was critical
to Wheat.
"My background was as a physician taking care of patients, so my
interest is getting results to physicians as quickly as possible,"
he said.
The year after the company opened, Wheat and his colleagues
developed a rapid test for another fungal infection, blastomycosis,
which afflicts people and animals.
The company is now in the final stages of developing a test to
detect San Joaquin Valley Fever, the first fungal infection that
captured Wheat's attention.
Even though Wheat left academia six years ago, his company retains
an air of campus culture. He publishes about eight peer- reviewed
journals a year.
His office, tucked away in an upstairs corner of the lab, has a
makeshift look, with exposed pipes and shelves stacked with boxes
filled with reprints from his many academic papers.
And he still runs the business like a senior investigator.
"I'm not in the lab doing things, but I'm the one coming up with the
ideas," he said. "My interest is in research and in clinical
science."
Wheat's combination of scientific and clinical acumen, along with
his personal touch, sets his lab apart from others, say doctors who
rely on his results to treat their patients.
"It's a unique, very specialized lab," said Dr. Steven Norris, an
infectious disease specialist with Infectious Disease of Indiana, a
private practice with several local offices. "I can call his lab
with a question about histoplasmosis or blastomycosis, and he will
get on the phone and help me.''
Wheat said he has been contacted by companies interested in buying
MiraVista. But he's not selling.
"This is more my love than my job," he said.
Call Star reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354.
Posted by: "tigerpaw2c" ***@**** tigerpaw2c
Thu May 29, 2008 3:32 am (PDT)
Specialized lab is special indeed
MiraVista Diagnostics renowned as leader in histoplasmosis testing
Indianapolis Star,IN*
By Shari Rudavsky
May 27, 2008
http://www.indystar .com/apps/ pbcs.dll/ article?
AID=/20080527/ BUSINESS/ 805270327/ 1003/BUSINESS
A In the late 1970s Indianapolis earned the distinction of being
home to the country's largest outbreak of histoplasmosis, a fungal
infection that causes flu-like symptoms.
At the time, 435 people were sickened after they inhaled soil spores
contaminated by bird droppings. The outbreak convinced an
entrepreneur to open a laboratory that would test for the infection.
Today, MiraVista Diagnostics, the company started by a former
Indiana University School of Medicine physician, leads the nation in
performing tests for histoplasmosis and a handful of other fungal
infections.
In six years MiraVista has doubled its staff from a startup crew of
six to 13 employees. The company is based at a modest office near
Indianapolis International Airport.
Behind it all is Dr. Joseph Wheat, considered the nation's leading
expert on histoplasmosis.
"Both Dr. Wheat and his laboratory are a national resource," said
Dr. Thomas Walsh of the National Cancer Institute. "They address the
clinical and laboratory needs for developing diagnostic assays for
some of the most serious and life-threatening mycoses (fungal
infections) that we encounter."
Before Wheat's method of testing, doctors had no easy way to
diagnose histoplasmosis, a potentially lethal condition. With
previous testing, diagnoses took weeks, giving the disease more time
to progress.
When the Indiana outbreak hit, Wheat was in the early years of his
career as an infectious disease specialist at IU, studying
staphylococcus, a common bacteria. He also had been an Air Force
physician stationed in California, where he treated about 30
patients with a disease known as San Joaquin Fever, which is similar
to histoplasmosis.
In Indiana an estimated 70 percent of people have been exposed to
histoplasmosis, health experts say. Most healthy people, however,
will never be diagnosed because the infection clears up without
medical attention.
But people with compromised immune systems, such as those with HIV
or organ transplants, may develop more serious symptoms. People who
are exposed to high doses of the spores can become seriously ill.
Wheat spent years looking for a better, faster test to diagnose
histoplasmosis. Eventually, he devised one that produces results
within hours, and he used his own money to start the company.
Named after his first grandchild MiraBella, Wheat's company
originally ran about 500 histoplasmosis tests a week. Today it does
about three times as many.
Samples that arrive at MiraVista on Monday mornings are tested the
same day and results are returned by afternoon, allowing the lab to
get results to a physician within 24 hours. That speed was critical
to Wheat.
"My background was as a physician taking care of patients, so my
interest is getting results to physicians as quickly as possible,"
he said.
The year after the company opened, Wheat and his colleagues
developed a rapid test for another fungal infection, blastomycosis,
which afflicts people and animals.
The company is now in the final stages of developing a test to
detect San Joaquin Valley Fever, the first fungal infection that
captured Wheat's attention.
Even though Wheat left academia six years ago, his company retains
an air of campus culture. He publishes about eight peer- reviewed
journals a year.
His office, tucked away in an upstairs corner of the lab, has a
makeshift look, with exposed pipes and shelves stacked with boxes
filled with reprints from his many academic papers.
And he still runs the business like a senior investigator.
"I'm not in the lab doing things, but I'm the one coming up with the
ideas," he said. "My interest is in research and in clinical
science."
Wheat's combination of scientific and clinical acumen, along with
his personal touch, sets his lab apart from others, say doctors who
rely on his results to treat their patients.
"It's a unique, very specialized lab," said Dr. Steven Norris, an
infectious disease specialist with Infectious Disease of Indiana, a
private practice with several local offices. "I can call his lab
with a question about histoplasmosis or blastomycosis, and he will
get on the phone and help me.''
Wheat said he has been contacted by companies interested in buying
MiraVista. But he's not selling.
"This is more my love than my job," he said.
Call Star reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354.
I believe that the Hantavirus is an example of a hemorrhagic virus...here is an article.
http://www.****
It doesn't cause the pain that your wife experienced though, more like flu like symptoms are present with Hanta.
It is good that they are checking for immunological problems, it sounds like something became inflamed and affected her entire system.
I pray that they find answers soon..Sunny
http://www.****
It doesn't cause the pain that your wife experienced though, more like flu like symptoms are present with Hanta.
It is good that they are checking for immunological problems, it sounds like something became inflamed and affected her entire system.
I pray that they find answers soon..Sunny
We're in Saskatoon. What kind of hemorrhagic viruses would people not have checked for?
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