In the news

Is cyclosporiasis something to worry about?

            In the past couple of months a parasitic disease, cyclosporiasis, has emerged in many states, with a few thousand cases to date. The symptoms can be severe but they are rarely fatal. One of the hallmarks of the disease is the explosive watery diarrhea that can last for weeks, or even longer. No deaths have been reported to date but persons whose immune system is compromised should take special precautions to prevent this and other microbial diseases.

            Scary headlines notwithstanding, cyclosporiasis will not become an epidemic, but it gives me the opportunity to remind readers to minimize infection by properly cleansing ALL fruits and vegetables as soon as you return from the market. Remove the outer leaves of lettuce and cabbage. Use soap and warm water, rinse thoroughly and refrigerate most items. Blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, because of their irregular surfaces, are well known for harboring germs even after washing. The last should have the green tops removed to make cleaning more effective. Bagged salads are occasionally the source of infection and should be rinsed in plain water — no soap — after careful inspection for dirt, bugs and spoiled leaves.

            Pesticide residues are not the threat that many people think but washing produce does remove the very small amount that has not dissipated during storage and transport. Organic foods are not necessarily free of pesticide residues or microbes and should be cleaned thoroughly.

Lifestyle

Polio – not quite gone yet

            Those of us who are old enough to remember polio epidemics are grateful for the vaccine that spared our children and grandchildren from that frightening disease. During my medical school years I worked among patients who spent their lives in an “iron lung”. The last of these patients passed away just recently at the age of 78. There have been no cases of natural polio in the United States since 1979 but dozens of people have developed a polio-like illness when the oral (Sabin) vaccine virus underwent mutation and acted like its wild cousin. The oral vaccine is no longer administered in this country.

            Polio has almost been eradicated from the globe except for continuing activity in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It exists there only because the savages who control those nations do not allow their children to be vaccinated and have repeatedly assassinated healthcare workers sent by the World Health Organization. To date more than one hundred members of vaccination teams have been killed.

            But polio has left its scars among many of those who suffered from paralytic disease in their youth. Post-polio syndrome develops years or decades after the original attack, averaging about 30 years. Pain, weakness and fatigue are the hallmarks of this condition and it has a marked effect on the quality of life of its victims.

            Only a small percentage of persons infected with the poliovirus, perhaps one in a hundred, will be struck with paralysis. However, even those with non-paralytic polio will sometimes develop post-polio syndrome. The diagnosis is often elusive, but anyone who develops abnormal weakness or fatigue with no obvious cause deserves thorough evaluation for post-polio syndrome.

            The mechanism by which post-polio syndrome occurs has eluded physicians but a recent study suggests that a persistent low-grade infection by a mutated virus might be the cause. The finding of poliovirus proteins in the spinal fluid and white blood cells of past polio victims but not in healthy persons may help to unravel the mystery. It is possible that a non-infectious form of the virus can persist in the nervous system for decades, continuing the ravages of the initial illness. This leads to the speculation that antiviral drugs can halt the process. I hope so.