A Two-fer
No Child Left Behind, Christopher Kaufman
The best is yet to come, and won't that be fine
You think you've seen the sun, but you ain't seen it shine
--The Best is Yet to Come, Frank Sinatra
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A two-fer under the category "Close the barn door before the horse gets out," courtesy our August VFW magazine:
First, we are told troops are battling bacterial and parasitic infections and diseases, some linked to sand fly bites. More than 600 troops who have had arms or legs amputated were found to have had one of four bacterial infections which are highly resistant to antibiotics.
The Army appropriated $1.6 million in February '07 to a research team at the University of Missouri to study the drug-resistant infections. Study leader James Calhoun said, "Ultimately, this research could mean fewer extremity infections, fewer surgeries and fewer amputations." Why are they looking into this on the back end?
About 2,500 troops have contracted leishmaniasis, a disease is characterized by reddish skin ulcers, and which can attack internal organs and become fatal, if untreated.
"The military recommends the troops use bed nets to ward off the flies. . .Troops also are urged to use the insect repellent DEET. . ." So you may choose your poison, as DEET is a powerful neurotoxin in its own right.
Why the sheepish mention now of "3,000 troops serving in Iraq or Afghanistan [who] have "gotten sick" from these bacterial strains and parasites? The knowledge of insect-borne disease in this region is not a news flash. Special Forces Area Study Handbooks have reported on them since at least the mid-1960's.
It is 2007, and the military is only now getting around to address the issue? Has anybody got his hand on the rudder, or is our warship completely at the mercy of the current? Perhaps if the folks in Washington were the ones getting sick from these pesky flies, and having their body parts lopped off as a result, they might step up the tempo.
Medical eventualities should be a pre-planning issue rather than an afterthought. Isn't that why the Area Studies and Handbooks are commissioned? These should be required reading before, rather than after, the start of an elective war.
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Second, a report on the "Crude" Handling of PTSD veterans includes a sidebar article entitled, "Shortage of Psychologists 'Alarming'."
The American Psychological Association reported in April '07 a "40% shortage of active duty clinical psychologists" and an "alarming pace" of attrition, with the total number of active-duty psychologists in the armed forces having dropped to a meager total of 350.
It is criminal to start an elective war without the necessary medical assets to adequately support the troops in a realistic manner. Psychologists are a necessary medical asset.
Labels: drug-resistant bacteria and parasites in Iraq, leishmaniasis, NCLB, parasitic and baterial disease in iraq . insect borne disease in iraq, PTSD Iraq veterans
posted by rangeragainstwar at 5:38 PM
3 Comments:
I have been screaming about these for 3 1/2 years. Not only has the DoD simply tried to cover these situations up they have not done enough to prevent them and openly and brazenly lie to the public about them. CNN and the rest of the media parrot their lies.
Nearly every soldier with an open wound is coming back through the military evacuation system with Acinetobacter Baumannii which is now nearly completely drug resistant.
The CDC warned the DoD in Dec of 2002 that when we invaded Iraq Leishmaniasis would be a huge problem that we were not prepared to deal with.
I get calls about both from active duty who must remain anonymous as they are not allowed discuss them.
I am starting to get calls from contractors who are just figuring out these exist.
Acinetobacter Baumannii from Iraq has spread throughout the military medical system and on to civilian hospitals all across our country, not to mention those countries in the Coalition of the Contaminated.
Leishmaniasis IS contagious despite what you are told and there is NO sterile cure for it. It is transmitted sexually, congenitally and by blood transfusion. It can take up to twenty years to present symptoms in a healthy person. It can live for 30 days in stored blood.
The military has not even followed it's own directives for banning the donation of blood for one year for returning troops.
Thanks for bringing this up.
We're losing more innocent civilians to these bugs than we did at the Towers already, and this war is just getting started.
www.iraqinfections.org
Ms. Clark,
Thank you for your very informed post.
I remember from an intro Micro class that Leishmaniasis was more than the red welts the small article portrayed it to be.
I've been aware for some time that we have been encountering vancomycin-resistant bacteria stateside, and that the government dithers on funding for newer, less resistant antibiotics.
We are outraged that this simplistic, venal administration reacted so incorrectly to the Twin Tower attack--an act of terrorism.
For the terrorists, our insane reaction was manna from heaven.
Such a small outlay: flight lessons, living accommodations, the loss of 19 of their soldiers--they didn't even need to buy weapons, aside from box cutters. It is pathetic, and tragic, for all who live outside of the beltway.
erratum:
Jim has communicated to me via email that wants a correction on my phrase "19 of their soldiers":
~I did not mean that in the literal, legal sense of "soldier"; rather, more like the mafia sense. Soldier as in, a terrorist operative. I think Jim would have found that term more palatable.
--Lisa
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