“We. Are. The 99 per—HACK. COUGH. SNEEZE. SNIFFLE. HACK.” Looks like Occupy Wall Street is coming down with something. Will the 99 percent be undone by horrible gut viruses?

It’s getting Dickensian at the Occupy movements throughout the country. Manhattan protesters even have a name for the hacking cough many demonstrators are coming down with:

“It’s called Zuccotti lung,” a demonstrator told the New York Times. “It’s a real thing.”

There’s no Web M.D. page yet for Zuccotti lung, but the symptoms are: deep, phlegmy cough, low fever, and a near-fatal allergic reaction to bongo drums.

At least New York protesters are doing better than their Atlanta counterparts. Two protesters have come down with tuberculosis. And one of those is an especially-serious drug resistant case. this reeks of germ warfare. Are rich doctors telling tubercular patients they come across at their practices to “take it to Zuccotti?”

But things could get much, much worse. from the New York Times:

Dr. Philip M. Tierno Jr., the director of clinical microbiology and immunology at NYU Langone Medical Center, said the conditions could leave park-dwellers susceptible to respiratory viruses; norovirus, the so-called winter vomiting virus, which can lead to vomiting and diarrhea and which could quickly overwhelm the limited bathroom facilities in the area.

Oh… dear God. Forget barricades. Mayor Bloomberg needs to build a moat filled with hand sanitizer around Zuccotti Park ASAP.

[Image via Getty]

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Idaho Technology has filed for US Food and Drug Administration clearance of its FilmArray Respiratory Panel as an in vitro diagnostic product for patients with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection.

The FilmArray RP is a multiplex PCR-based assay designed to detect and differentiate a panel of respiratory viruses and bacteria including adenovirus, bocavirus, corona viruses, human metapneumovirus, influenza a and B viruses, parainfluenza viruses, rhino/entero viruses, respiratory syncytial virus, Bordetella pertussis, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

“Several hospitals have expressed a strong interest in the FilmArray RP and many have already placed orders for it or are currently evaluating the system,” Idaho Technology CEO Kirk Ririe said in a statement.

He also said that the firm expects “rapid and significant adoption” of the FilmArray RP partly because of its ability to detect and differentiate the novel influenza a H1 2009 virus.

Salt Lake City-based Idaho said that it is developing other FilmArray tests including a GI track panel, a blood culture ID panel, and an STD panel.