SUPERBUG HITS THREE CANADIAN SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN AFGHAN SUICIDE

BOMBING -- MAY HAVE CONTRACTED INFECTION IN HOSPITAL

OR ON THE BATTLEFIELD

This is a serious medical problem for GIs wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A number of vets have written to me about their acinetobacter baumannii infection.

It's almost impossible to cure and can cause serious medical problems.

And, it can be contracted in the hospital as well as in the field. 

I have been told that some GIs are getting out of theater without a proper diagnosis and treatment...then, having problems getting a diagnosis and treatment at the VA.

It's a story to watch.

Story here... http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/02/22/acinetobacter060222.html

Entire story below:

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Superbug hits Canadian soldiers injured in suicide bombing

CBC News

The recovery of three Canadians wounded last month in Afghanistan has been slowed by battlefield bacteria infecting American troops in Iraq, CBC News has learned.

A suicide bombing killed Canadian envoy Glyn Berry and two Afghans, and caused serious injuries to three Canadian soldiers.

Master Cpl. Paul Franklin of Halifax lost a leg, Cpl. Jeffrey Bailey from Edmonton had devastating head injuries, and Pte. William Salikin of Grand Forks, B.C., also suffered a head injury.

The three soldiers were first taken to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. When they left a week later, all three men were infected with drug-resistant bacteria.

Medical specialists aren't certain whether most infections started in the battlefield or the hospital.

"It's thought that they may have gotten it from going through the hospital in Landstuhl," said Lt. Col. Henry Flaman, a Canadian military doctor in Edmonton.

Acinetobacter baumannii has become one of the most common sources of infections among American troops wounded in Iraq.

The bacteria are found in soil and water in Iraq. When the microbes enter traumatic wounds in the battlefield, the superbug can cause serious damage.

"Most of your drugs that you have don't work on this particular organism," said Dr. Gina Dorlac, a U.S. military physician tracking infections at Landstuhl. "So it can be difficult to treat, and keep people in the hospital longer and possibly cause death that would not otherwise have happened."

Doctors at a civilian hospital in Edmonton used a mixture of drugs to treat the infections.

Military officials won't say what role Acinetobacter played in the illness that nearly cost Bailey his life, and Franklin his second leg.

Acinetobacter infections have been linked to deaths in U.S. military hospitals. Putting sick people together in hospital where they are given antibiotics can make the bugs nastier, Dorlac said.

Officials in Edmonton aren't worried about Acinetobacter spreading to civilian patients, but they are concerned for soldiers passing through military hospitals.

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Larry Scott

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