I think I will be sticking to the swimming pools for the foreseeable future!

I take Humira for my arthritis and it does weaken my immune system - and takes longer for even small wounds to heal. I did take my kids to the beach in early June but that may be the sole trip this summer. Between the flesh-eating bacteria and sharks displaying in shallow water in both Galveston and Surfside I think I will be hanging at the local neighborhood pool instead!

I haven't been to the beach since BP poisoned everything. I had almost convinced myself that it was okay to return for visit. But probably not with news like this.

but the attack in Surfside was pretty close in (waist-high water) and they've been spotted by peeps in Galveston as well ...

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Shark-bites-teen-swimmer-off-Surfside-Beach-4605769.php

You're more trusting than I. I stay far away from drugs they advertise on TV, especially if they were approved by the FDA after 2000.

Just the idea of taking a drug to suppress the immune system makes me shudder. I was able to get rid of my tennis elbow (and other middle-age maladies) by eating a proper diet. Many auto-immune disorders are cured just as easy (or as hard) as that. You might want to do some research into it.

In the meantime, I'm with you about staying away from the beach!

arthritis appears to run in my family ... my father's own severe case appeared in his late teens. I had been wrapping my knee and ignoring the plantar facitis for years but when it got to the point that I had difficulty getting out of bed and walking down the stairs I finally went in for treatment. Exercise and diet are definitely important - I have managed to lose 75% of the weight I gained with the last baby and that has helped to take some pressure off my knees.

Congrats on the weight loss!

Most ppl don't realize how important nutrition is for the health of our immune systems. Lots of fresh fruits & veggies and elimination of all dairy (terribly inflammatory) is the pathway to good health. Goodbye arthritis (and most other auto-immune diseases)!

I did pick up an anti-inflammation cookbook and I am eating a lot of fresh pineapple (which I love anyway so win-win) ... The easiest thing to give up is potatoes (gluten plus bad for inflammation) - worst is to watch the tomatoes and dairy (both of which I love). But adding the salads and cutting potatoes/breads has been critical to the weight loss. I've always been a proponent of better eating/more exercise - I'm not one for fad diets.

My condolences to the gentleman and his family.

Terrible thing to have happen, that's for sure.

like .... stay out of the water?

Short of dipping yourself in latex, I'm not sure what precautions they have in mind.

... I would definitely take my kids and myself to the pool.

There are many threads at DU about people who die of an infection they got while swimming. Google "amoebic encephalitis," "brain-eating amoeba," "Naegleria fowleri," or "nose infection swimming" to find some.

She was zip lining and fell into a creek. She had an open wound. Luckily, she did not lose her life. But she lost her hands, one foot and a leg. But she has rallied wonderfully. There have been benefits held for her to help with medical bills and a local car dealership donated a specially equipped van.

Glad to hear she's rallied.

The girl had Aeromonas, which can also cause "flesh eating" but the organism was different. Vibrios occur in salt water and sometimes need special media to grow (media called TCBS).

Other Vibrio species to worry about are Vibrio cholerae (causes cholera) and Vibrio parahemolyticus.

I am a microbiologist in a clinical microbiology laboratory.

http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/vibriov/

http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/vibriop/

http://www.cdc.gov/cholera/index.html

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001628.htm (link about Aeromonas)

but we had two cases of naegleria fowleri killing children swimming in a local lake two years apart. I think a sign should have been posted after the first child's death that with the hot weather there is a danger in swimming in the small lake.

From my understanding, the danger from this organism, which is actually an amoeba, is that if water forcibly goes up your nose, as in tumbling while water skiing, etc, the amoeba will be forced up with the water into the sinuses and will cross the blood/brain barrier. I may be wrong but I don't think swimming per se will cause the infection. The CDC site doesn't mention this, but I know I have read about this method of inoculation in other lab articles about this organism. Unfortunately, this organism is naturally occurring, so not much can be done to get rid of it unless one would chlorinate an entire lake. Fortunately, the incidence of meningitis from it is considered rare.

Here's the CDC site:

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/

into the nasal passages. The two kids that died were just swimming. Also, it's a small lake and as I understand it, the problem is exasperated when the water temperature gets high later in the summer. The lake is only 41 acres so there is no water skiing. The problem I have is that this kind of situation is quite rare, I had never heard of it before 2010 when the first child died at this beach. If they put up a warning sign, maybe the second child would be alive today.

Different bacteria have what they call different sensitivity patterns. Which antibiotic works with one won't necessarily work with another. This is why cultures are taken and microbiology technologists work on them - to let the docs know what is growing and what to use. In any case of any kind of flesh-eater, infectious disease doctors are ultimately calling the shots after the surgeons are called in STAT to start cutting away dead tissue.

Vibrio vulnificus is kind of a new kid on the block and is just being recognized as a problematic pathogen in micro circles. I had never heard of Aeromonas causing such damage before that poor girl got it from zip lining. These are organisms that are both associated with water in some respect.

I have worked as a medical microbiology technologist since 1974. Unfortunately there always seems to be some sort of new "emerging pathogen."

Very sad story.

With all the oil blowing into the water a few years ago, then all the chemicals dumped in the water to deal with the oil...there's got to be some real nasty stuff in and around that body of water.

I still remember the photos of the oil soaked, sick wildlife, or the dead birds and fish laying on the beach. Haven't bought gas at BP in a very long time--long before the accident in the Gulf--and I never will, because I remember those photos.

I also haven't bought gas at Exxon since that "accident", and never will again.

I think the term flesh eating is misleading here. It does do damage and is quite virulent. But it does respond to antibiotics .Vibrio is what gets you sick when you eat shellfish out of season. My Dad ate oysters at age 80 and was hospitalized for a week ( otherwise healthy)so not something to play with. In the south we go heavy on the neosporin in summer. I think vibrio is found in warm salt water so ESP watch those shell/ barnacle boo boos.

See my post above for links regarding Vibrio infections. The organism most associated with flesh-eating is Streptococcus pyogenes, which is also known as Group A beta strep. This organism commonly causes strep throat, but given the right strain and location, can cause deadly skin infections and pneimonia. Jim Henson of the Muppets died of a respiratory Group A infection.

MRSA is the methicillin-resistant form of the organism Staphylococcus aureus, which causes abscesses and, in the wrong place, sepsis and/or death.

I am a medical microbiologist.

It would be just deserts if the BP bacteria mutated to the point that it could eat through tanker hulls and well heads to get to a principle diet of crude oil.
Now if they could just introduce a micro-RNA marker so it would ignore BP property and go after the competition then they could ransom the entire world. Hmmmmmmm.

Sounds like a Harry Harrison novella.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2010/09/bp-ocean-dispersant-corexit

Corexit contains 2-butoxyethanol, according to article above.

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts118.pdf

snip
People exposed to high levels of 2-butoxyethanol for
several hours reported irritation of the nose and eyes, head­
ache, a metallic taste in their mouths, and vomiting. No harm­
ful effects were seen on their lungs or hearts. People who swal­
lowed large amounts of cleaning agents containing 2-butoxy­
ethanol have shown breathing problems, low blood pressure,
low levels of hemoglobin (the substance in the blood that
carries oxygen to organs of the body), acidic blood, and blood
in the urine.


European Commission, Joint Research, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection found 2-butoxyethanol harmful in contact with skin and a skin irritant: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2011-152/pdfs/2011-152.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corexit

I will never forgive the O admin for allowing its use in the Gulf. The toxicity was known.