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N7GCW > VETS 20.11.04 06:27l 62 Lines 2702 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Injured Vets-blood infection.
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Sent: 041119/1713z @:WA7V.#SEWA.WA.USA.NOAM [Walla Walla] $:37417_WA7V
Rare Blood Infection Surfaces in Injured U.S. Soldiers
Thu Nov 18, 2004 01:44 PM ET
By Paul Simao
ATLANTA (Reuters) - An expectedly high number of U.S. soldiers injured in
the Middle East and Afghanistan are testing positive for a rare,
hard-to-treat blood infection in military hospitals, Army doctors reported
on Thursday.
A total of 102 soldiers were found to be infected with the bacteria
Acinetobacter baumannii. The infections occurred among soldiers at Walter
Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in
Germany and three other sites between Jan. 1, 2002, and Aug. 31, 2004.
Although it was not known where the soldiers contracted the infections, the
Army said the recent surge highlighted a need to improve infection-control
in military hospitals.
Eighty-five of the bloodstream infections occurred among soldiers serving in
Iraq, the area around Kuwait and Afghanistan, the U.S. Army said in a report
published on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Military hospitals typically see about one case per year.
Army investigators said they did not know whether the soldiers contracted
the infections on the battlefield, during medical treatment on the front
line or following evacuation to Walter Reed, Landstuhl and other military
medical locations.
"Although some of the patients identified in this report had evidence of
bloodstream infections at the time of admission to military medical
facilities, whether the infections were acquired from environmental sources
in the field or during treatment at other military medical facilities is
unknown," the Army said.
A. baumannii, which is found in water and soil and resistant to many types
of antibiotics, surfaces occasionally in hospitals, often spread among
patients in intensive care units.
The infection was also found in soldiers with traumatic injuries to their
arms, legs and extremities during the Vietnam War.
Spread of the infection is often halted when health-care workers wash their
hands and those of their patients with alcohol swabs, actively monitor those
with wounds to the extremities and promptly identify the infected.
Development of better drugs also is needed to help contain future outbreaks
of the infection, Army officials said. In some cases, the only effective
antibiotic is colistin, an older drug that is rarely prescribed today
because of its high toxicity.
Health-care providers in the United States are urged to watch for A.
baumannii infections among soldiers who have been recently treated at
military hospitals, especially those who were in intensive care units.
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