Published on: Mar 07 2012 09:10:53 PM EST  Updated on: Mar 08 2012 10:05:38 AM EST

South Florida doctor seeing cases of malaria

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. –

Dr. Ian Russinoff, an ER doctor with Broward General Medical Center has recently seen a few cases of malaria.

“I wouldn’t say we have a increased incidence of malaria but it needs to be something that’s kept on our radar because sometimes it’s a hard diagnosis to pinpoint and it’s potentially fatal,” Russinoff said.

Malaria is caused by a parasite that is passed from one person to another through the bite of an infected mosquito.

Malaria can also be transmitted from a mother to her unborn baby and through blood transfusions.

Symptoms include abdominal pain, headache, joint pain, nausea, sweating vomiting and fever.

The fever’s tend to come in cycles.  It’s going to come about every six hours,” said Russinoff.

A diagnosis is confirmed through blood work

“Once these parasites migrate to the liver you will get some break down of red blood cells which relates to the anemia we see in some of the lab findings,” Russinoff said.

Malaria is most common in tropical and subtropical areas and though not typical in the U.S., it has been introduced here from infected mosquitos that are transported into the country via airplanes.

Malaria will not resolve on it’s own and needs to be treated with antibiotics.

“It’s like any other infection if it runs its course and affects other parts of the body so it could be very serious,” said Russinoff.

Before traveling to warm climates outside the U.S., including the Caribbean, check with your doctor about taking an anti-malaria medication to prevent infection. d

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December 01, 2011 1:36 PM

continued from A1

and can cause fever, headache, and fatigue. if left untreated, the disease can then cause joint problems, cardiac issues, and neurological issues. there is typically a rash that appears at the site of the bite that looks similar to a bulls eye. this disease can be contracted numerous times without your body creating a defense against it due to the fact that it hides in your lymph nodes and can even change their structure.

Lyme disease is not the only disease that can be contracted from a tick. Another disease is called Anaplasmosis. this pathogen invades your white blood cells and causes flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, muscle aches and headaches. The other is called Babesiosis, a pathogen that invades your red blood cells and, according to Mr. Dapsis, “blows them up.” this disease causes malaria-like symptoms such as sweats, chills, gastrointestinal distress, respiratory distress, and severe anemia.

The issue that plagues many is how to successfully keep ticks from attacking people and transmitting these diseases. there are several things people can do to help reduce the likelihood of a tick bite, such as using an insect repellant that contains DEET or Permethrin. there are also Permethrin sprays for your clothing, which last for approximately six washes before needing to be reapplied. there is now even Permethrin-treated clothing that can repel ticks for up to 70 washings.

“In terms of protecting yourself, what really has been under-communicated is the potential benefit of repellent treated clothing,” said Larry.

Mr. Dapsis had a pair of these slacks on hand, made by the company Insect Shield, and demonstrated their power. He placed three female deer ticks on the pants and we watched as the ticks appeared to become increasingly more disoriented until they eventually stopped moving altogether. The whole process took approximately 10 minutes. according to Mr. Dapsis, the ticks are doomed if exposed to the chemical infused apparel for more than 60 seconds.

“These pants act like a tick waterslide, the grab on then slide right off. I have been using these pants as well as spraying my boots and socks with Permethrin and have not had a single tick bite all year, and I am out there in the brush looking for them,” Mr. Dapsis said.

According to Mr. Dapsis, there are simple ways to protect one’s yard and pets as well. Homeowners can spray the perimeter of their yards with a repellent that must be used in early spring and again in early summer. Homeowners can purchase the chemical or hire a company to provide this service. The chemical acts as a barrier to help keep ticks away from your property. Homeowners can also mulch the perimeter of their property, which helps keep ticks at bay. other, easier methods include keeping bird feeders away from the home, and staying away from plants that attract white tail deer. Bird feeders attract white footed mice, which are known carriers of ticks. Deer are also carriers of a large number of ticks. according to Larry, a deer can carry as many as 200 to 300 ticks around their ears.

Pet protection is pretty straightforward: simply apply flea and tick medication such as Frontline or Advantix as directed. this has proven to be a successful tick inhibitor, and is all that is necessary to help ensure a pet is protected.

Ticks only feed three times in their two-year life cycle. there are four stages to a tick’s life cycle. They are egg stage, the larva stage, the nymph stage, and the adult stage. a bite from a tick in the larva stage holds no real threat as they have not had the chance to contract anything from biting an infected animal. The nymph stage is the most dangerous, because ticks in this stage typically bite small rodents or birds and contract the diseases from them. once they finish feeding and detach from that animal, they are now infected for life and can transmit that disease to another organism it attaches to.

Mr. Dapsis said 25 percent of nymphs carry at least one of the three main tick-borne diseases, and they transmit these diseases most often due to their small size. a typical nymph is the size of a single poppy seed. Fifty percent of adult ticks carry at least one of the three diseases, but transmission is less likely as they are more readily seen and are removed before anything can be transmitted. Mr. Dapsis said it takes approximately 24 hours to contract a tick-borne disease.

For more information visit Barnstable County’s website capecpdextension.org or call Larry Dapsis at 508-375-6642.

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In the middle of the biggest outbreak of food poisoning caused by the bacterium enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) that Germany has ever seen, a group of doctors may have found a way to treat the most severe cases. the finding appears today in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

At least four people have died in the outbreak, thought to have been caused by eating contaminated vegetables. To date, 276 patients have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). the potentially fatal syndrome, characterized by a destruction of red blood cells and severe kidney problems caused by the bacteria’s toxin, is the most severe complication of an EHEC infection.

In the article, Franz Schaefer, a nephrologist at the Center for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine in Heidelberg, Germany, and other physicians describe how they successfully treated three EHEC-infected children suffering from HUS with a novel approach. They used the monoclonal antibody eculizumab, which has been on the market since 2007, to treat a rare blood disorder. Eculizumab inhibits a part of the human immune system called the complement system that usually destroys invading cells that have been tagged for destruction by other parts of the immune system.

The complement system has been implicated for some time in certain patients who develop HUS without any EHEC infection, known as atypical HUS patients, and eculizumab has been used successfully to treat them. recent research suggests that the complement system might also be involved in the HUS cases caused by EHEC.

Last autumn, Schaefer saw a young girl suffering from HUS due to an EHEC infection. he first tried the most common treatment, replacing the patients’ blood plasma with donor plasma to rid the body of the toxins. (HUS patients are usually not treated with antibiotics because the antibiotics can aggravate the symptoms by releasing the shiga toxin from the bacteria in large amounts.)

When the girl’s health did not improve, Schaefer tried the antibody. “We did not have any other option. She was showing severe neurological symptoms, paralysis of one side of the body, cramps, and then slipped into a coma,” Schaefer remembers. “But when we finally gave her the antibody, she improved immensely within 24 hours,” Schaefer says. “This was not a controlled experiment, of course,” he says. “But the improvements were very suggestive of being due to the treatment.”

Schaefer was apparently not the only one with this idea. When he wrote a case report for NEJM, the editors notified him that two other groups had sent in similar reports around the same time. “So we wrote something all together and it was accepted for publication 14 days ago,“ Schaefer says. a few days later, HUS cases started appearing en masse in northern Germany.

“I could not believe it,” Schaefer says. “HUS cases with severe neurological symptoms are very rare, but now they are everywhere.” he also informed his colleagues elsewhere. “a lot of them have asked about the new treatment, and a few patients are already being treated with it.”

At the university clinic in Essen, Andreas Kribben is treating two HUS patients with the antibody. “We have seven HUS patients altogether, but we are using eculizumab only on the two patients that are not responding to the plasmapheresis,” he says. Kribben wrote the original paper on using eculizumab to treat atypical HUS, so he had experience with the drug. “We actually started treating the first patient on Wednesday, before Schaefer’s paper came out. Sadly, we have not seen the kind of response that Schaefer describes and that we know from the atypical HUS patients,” he says.

Jens Nürnberger, nephrologist at a clinic in Schwerin is somewhat skeptical of the treatment. “There is no real evidence for this treatment,” he says. “it might work or it might not.” the cases described in Schaefer’s paper could also be spontaneous remissions, he cautions. “The other problem is that this drug is hugely expensive, costing at least €15000 per patient, and the health insurance is not going to pay for it.“

However, in cases in which no other option remains, doctors would be right to try the new drug anyway, Nürnberger says. “But we should really be defining groups of patients who will get the drug and groups who do not and make this into a kind of controlled study,” he says. “instead, a lot of people will be treated this way, some will get better, some will not. In the end, we will not have learned anything.“ But he, like everyone else, is still hoping that this will turn out to be the right treatment at the right time.

Brought to you by: Mercy Hospital Copyright ©2010. The associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com all rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.  

DEAR DR. GOTT: I would appreciate any information you could give me about hepatic porphyria. I have it and would like to know about treatment.

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DEAR READER: Porphyria is a rare, inherited neurodegenerative condition that results in a buildup of chemicals called porphyrins in the body. these are normal body chemicals. what isn’t normal is when they build up and affect the nervous system, the skin or both. The condition is from a disruption in the body’s production of heme, the nonprotein portion of hemoglobin that contains iron. We all have heme in our tissues, with the greatest amounts found in the red blood cells, liver and bone marrow.

There are eight enzymes that convert porphyrins into heme. In your condition, an inherited mutation in one of your genes has caused a deficiency that leads to the buildup of porphyrins in the body.

You likely received this inherited condition from one of your parents (an autosomal dominant pattern) or from both parents (an autosomal recessive pattern). The interesting thing is that even though you have been diagnosed, you may or may not experience any symptoms. if you are exhibiting symptoms, they may be triggered by exposure to the sun, infection, the use of alcohol, hormonal factors, dieting, excess iron in your system or a host of other possibilities.

Generally speaking, porphyria is divided into two categories — acute and cutaneous.

The acute form generally affects the nervous system and often presents with severe abdominal pain, vomiting and constipation, which then progresses to muscle pain, numbness, weakness, diarrhea, seizures, fever, hallucinations, high blood pressure and red urine.

This form is rare in people prior to puberty or following menopause. The cutaneous form affects the skin with symptoms of blisters and skin swelling within minutes of exposure to the sun, redness and itching.

Because you have the hepatic form, this implies liver and possibly kidney involvement. while I don’t know your specific case, your kidney function could be less than optimal, and your liver may be damaged. The extent of that involvement should determine what your hematologist plans as the next step in your care that may be as simple as discontinuing medication that acts as a trigger or as complicated as dialysis or surgery. good luck.

DEAR DR. GOTT: I have a question regarding treatment of a 5-year-old who has been diagnosed with allergies to dust mites and mold. The allergist prescribed Flonase nasal spray and Zyrtec when he’s bad. this seems a little extreme, as it is a steroid and the only symptom she presented with was frequent colds. Is there any other treatment?

DEAR READER: I cannot, in clear conscience, recommend the use of the steroid Flonase for a child, primarily because the medication can affect his or her growth at such a vulnerable age.

Furthermore, pediatric Zyrtec (an antihistamine) studies involving 168 children aged 2 to 11 found side effects to be mild to moderate. Studies involving children aged 6 to 11 given doses between 1.25 to 10 milligrams daily found symptoms of headache in 11 percent of users, pharyngitis in 6.2 percent, abdominal pain in 4.4 percent and epistaxis (nosebleeds) in 3.7 percent.

As a non-pediatrician, I am not qualified to make such an enormous decision. Speak with your daughter’s pediatrician regarding the allergist’s recommendations. Children are precious and should be treated with the utmost of care.

Dr. Peter H. Gott is a retired physician and the author of several books, including “Live Longer, Live Better,” “Dr. Gott’s no Flour, no Sugar Diet” and “Dr. Gott’s no Flour, no Sugar Cookbook,” which are available at most bookstores or online. His website is AskDr GottMD.com.

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I get nauseated these days no matter what I eat. I have to drink ginger ale with every meal just to keep it down. no, I'm not pregnant, promise. I can't afford to go to the doctor just to be told it'll pass. how do I know if it could be my gall bladder?

Hello, Cstina:

I wonder if you are taking aspirin regularly? if so, let me know. It inhibits Pancreatic 'enzyme
secretions and inhibits digestion. thus, your stomach will not digest and empty, leaving you with a fullness feeling, belching acid residue, and nausea. sometimes 1/2 ounce of lemon juice with the meal will accelerate digestion and emptying of the stomach.

If you are on a McDonald's diet, you can expect Gall Bladder problems. The liver removes excessive fats from the blood and it secretes as liver bile, often causing gall stones–also, brownness of your feces is related to removing old red blood cells from the blood. That is why grey stool is a sign of gall bladder dysfunction. so, when you cook, use nothing but FRESH liquid vegetable oil (I recommend safflower or corn oil) and use it sparingly. these oils contain elements essential to life but don't use any oil or fat in large amounts. I will effect you from head to tail.

Blessings, Ben Yeshua, RN

Pain or tenderness under the rib cage on the right side
Pain between shoulder blades
Stools light or chalky colored
Indigestion after eating, especially fatty or greasy foods
Nausea
Dizziness
Bloating
Gas
Burping or belching
Feeling of fullness or food not digesting
Diarrhea (or alternating from soft to watery)
Constipation
Headache over eyes, especially right
Bitter fluid comes up after eating
Frequent use of laxatives

gallbladderattack.com/

Crohns disease is an inflammatory condition of the digestive tract. The inflammation can be in the small intestine, the large intestine or at the anus. The normal function of the digestive tract – receiving food, digesting it and expelling the waste- will be affected by Crohns disease. so crohn’s disease symptoms are centred around the digestive tract. Diarrhea is one of the symptoms of Crohns disease. When the large intestine is swollen, it produces large quantities of fluid which comes out with the stool causing diarrhea. Constipation is another symptom. When there is inflammation at the anus, the stool desnt pass out easily and it leads to constipation. another symptom is anemia. When the number of red blood cells in the blood is less than than the required number, the ability of blood to carry oxygen to the body tissues is reduced. Deficiency of oxygen in the body cells is called anemia. Inflammation anywhere in the body or bleeding can lessen the number of red blood cells in blood. a patient suffering from Crohns disease will need to visit the toilet frequently. Persistent or occasional stomach pain is another symptom of Crohns disease. If the inflammation is in the smal intestine, the food doesn’t go down to the large intestine; rather it tries to come back to the stomach and mouth causing a feeling of vomiting/nausea. Inflammation of the small intestine also leads to malabsorption of nutrients from food and the result will be malnutrition. Fever and weight loss are other symptoms of Crohns disease.

Without going into a lot of detail.

Many people with colorectal cancer do not have any symptoms until the disease is advanced, so people need to be screened regularly.Screening can detect early colon cancer.

People with colorectal cancer may experience the following symptoms. Sometimes, people with colorectal cancer do not show any of these symptoms. or, these symptoms may be caused by a medical condition that is not cancer. If you are concerned about a symptom on this list, please talk with your doctor and ask that a colonoscopy be scheduled so that the underlying reason(s) for the symptom can be found.

* a change in bowel habits

* Diarrhea, constipation, or feeling that the bowel does not empty completely

* Bright red or very dark blood in the stool

* Stools that look narrower or thinner than normal

* Discomfort in the abdomen, including frequent gas pains, bloating, fullness, and cramps

* Weight loss with no known explanation

* Constant tiredness or fatigue

* Unexplained iron-deficiency anemia (low number of red blood cells)

There are no specific early symptoms.
"Mickey" has a good answer.
If there are symptoms caused by colon carcinoma,
it is usually very advanced disease.
Do not count on symptoms for early detection of a colon carcinoma.
As with many cancers, we need to find them before there are symptoms.

Gut pain often-dizziness-seeing red colors when walking & feeling faint. Feeling funny-dark red stools.Colonostophy- doc telling you that u got colon cancer stage 3-4 being the highest.Being young-it doesn't care how old er are.Festering 4 years u never believing 4 & instant it would be that.Surgery piece of colon out-6 years pass-all is good. no kemo I will choice to have-no more poison will i have I OPT OUT. Prayer & thanking God.Women get checked i don't care how old u are,they said prenatal vitamins may be causing it because this is a older mans disease NOT true anymore, prenatal vitamins could be causing this,i think their guessing.they aren't to concerned with us women,they have a cure 4 prostate cancer. God bless & I hope your ok? Don't avoid a colonostophy (spelling) I wouldn't advise it.

Other information is that the person has distorted red blood cells and it's a heterozygous disease. I need help for a biology project and I can't seem to find a disease that has all of these symptoms! PLEASE HELP!!!

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. in the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken on an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken in which contains microscopic malaria parasites. about 1 week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito’s saliva and are injected into the person being bitten.

Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells of an infected person, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood. Malaria may also be transmitted from a mother to her unborn infant before or during delivery (“congenital” malaria).

Malaria Symptoms

Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur. Malaria may cause anemia and jaundice (yellow coloring of the skin and eyes) because of the loss of red blood cells. Symptoms usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. Infection with one type of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death. in many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines.

Treatment of Malaria

Medical treatment should be sought immediately.The effectiveness of antimalarial drugs differs with different species of the parasite and with different stages of the parasite’s life cycle. Your physician will determine the treatment plan most appropriate for your individual condition.

Drugs include chloroquine, mefloquine, primaquine, quinine, pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (Fansidar), and doxycycline. Some plasmodium have developed resistance to certain medications, and therefore, alternative medications will be prescribed for you.

Find powerful herbal remedies

Home Remedies for Malaria from herbalcureindia

Prevention of Malaria

No prophylactic regimen gives complete protection. Speak with your physician or local travel clinic to receive up to date information about the best malaria protection for you. Effectiveness of any given medication varies by the region of the world in which you plan to travel. Effectiveness also varies from year to year, so current information is essential.

Prevention is based on:

evaluating the risk of exposure to infection

preventing mosquito bites by using DEET mosquito repellant, bed nets, and clothing that covers most of the body

chemoprophylaxis (preventive medications)

g1 off all veg and fruit.just curiousThe symptoms of scurvy usually appear after 1 3 repinenths of a deficiency in vitamin C (ascorbic acid). How quickly symptoms develop will depend on how much vitamin C is stored in body.The early symptoms of scurvy include: * myalgia (muscle pain), and * generalised oedema (fluid retention around body),In L8R stages of scurvy, symptoms will Include: * irritability, * wounds healing slowly and poorly. * skin changes and bruising easily, * gudgeonnvulsions (seizures). * jaundice (yellowing of skin and whites of the eyes), * malaise (a feeling of discomfortificationn and being generally unwell), * swollen, spongy and bleeobstreperousg gums (gum disease), * muscles and jvicinityt pain caused by haerepinerrhaging (bleeobstreperousg), * neuropathy (damage nervous system),Symptoms of scurvy in children * anaemia (a gudgeonndition that is caused by a reduced number of red blood cells), * oliguria (the production of an abstipulationally small arepineunt of urine), * loosening of teeth, andIn children, symptoms of scurvy will Include:Other symptoms of scurvy include: * anaemia, and * a rash of tiny bleeobstreperousg spots around hair follicles, * high actingnaeconverture (fever) of 38°C (100.4°F) or above, and * arthralgia (jvicinityt pain). * nap (feeling tired and lacking in energy), * painful legs, * haerepinerrhaging (bleeobstreperousg), particularly into end of long bones.bleeobstreperousg gums repinest comrepinem symptom