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Medical symptom research, freakish stuff (Africa)
uean
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Most probably know by now but if not, I'm in Uganda.
We just had one of our staff die from a really rapid onset of.... something. Official diagnosis is pneumonia but not exactly from a reputable source, and I've never seen anyone die in 8 hours from pneumonia. I want to know more about it. I'd like to do my due diligence with this just in case it was something serious that might be putting others at risk.
For some background, the staff person who died was our second in command working at a rather large clinic (~1700 patients per day) clinic that we run on site. We're located about 4 hours from the big city of Kampala, and about 120kms from the nearest "city", so we're in the bush. Bigtime.
He complained that he was feeling a bit feverish in the morning on a saturday, but went off to school where he was going to teach a class. He felt a bit worse as the day wore on, and came home with a cough that had some blood in it. He was diagnosed at our clinic on site and then referred to a hospital a half hour away. The fever had set in by this time, severely, the cough was terrible and he was coughing up a lot of blood. He was rushed to hospital. By the time he arrived in hospital he could no longer see or speak and the blood was... bad. He died within a few hours of reaching the place.
Very strange to see someone going from "I'm feeling a bit under the weather" to dead in a day, and given he has exposure to everything under the sun around here in a congested clinic I'd like to satisfy the inner disaster-demon's curiosity and rule out Ebola and stuff. It's nighttime so the soonest I can do this effectively will be in about 15 hours, so any resources until then online would be nice if someone could provide them. Or heck, just input. I have time.
We just had one of our staff die from a really rapid onset of.... something. Official diagnosis is pneumonia but not exactly from a reputable source, and I've never seen anyone die in 8 hours from pneumonia. I want to know more about it. I'd like to do my due diligence with this just in case it was something serious that might be putting others at risk.
For some background, the staff person who died was our second in command working at a rather large clinic (~1700 patients per day) clinic that we run on site. We're located about 4 hours from the big city of Kampala, and about 120kms from the nearest "city", so we're in the bush. Bigtime.
He complained that he was feeling a bit feverish in the morning on a saturday, but went off to school where he was going to teach a class. He felt a bit worse as the day wore on, and came home with a cough that had some blood in it. He was diagnosed at our clinic on site and then referred to a hospital a half hour away. The fever had set in by this time, severely, the cough was terrible and he was coughing up a lot of blood. He was rushed to hospital. By the time he arrived in hospital he could no longer see or speak and the blood was... bad. He died within a few hours of reaching the place.
Very strange to see someone going from "I'm feeling a bit under the weather" to dead in a day, and given he has exposure to everything under the sun around here in a congested clinic I'd like to satisfy the inner disaster-demon's curiosity and rule out Ebola and stuff. It's nighttime so the soonest I can do this effectively will be in about 15 hours, so any resources until then online would be nice if someone could provide them. Or heck, just input. I have time.
Guys? Hay guys?
PSN - sumowot
PSN - sumowot
uean on
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This discussion has been closed.
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Since its Uganda, did he have an underlying condition like HIV/AIDS? 8 hours is crazy fast for Ebola, and iirc its more of a multi-organ failure deal destroying the intestines/liver/kidneys etc, not just burning down the lungs. That said its Africa and they have all kinds of nasty shit there that doesn't get made into block-buster movies.
There's a good chance he had some other underlying condition, and it really was pneumonia (like tinwhiskers says, that seems like something that would happen if your immune system were compromised already).
At the same time, you probably want to watch yourself for signs of sickness, and see someone if you start showing a fever/cough.
His pulmonary bleeding was only a symptom, I'd certainly push for more info when you get a chance. Who transported him? Was any attempt at ventilation made along the way? How long did it take to get to the hospital? What was his condition when they arrived? Anyone perform an echo or ECG? Blood pressure? Are they even equipped to do so?
Like everyone else mentioned, it really doesn't fit the profile of a hemorrhagic fever, so don't get yourself worked up thinking that you're incubating Marburg or something.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemoptysis
AKA Necrotizing Pneumonia.
So it's not unheard of.
Still crappy. He was a great guy. Close the thread!
PSN - sumowot