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Right smack in the middle of cold and flu season, a new reason to watch out for germs could be life saving. An Associated Press article http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/15/1099604-cdc-new-respiratory-bug-has-killed-10 reports that 10 people in the last 18 months have succumbed to a mutated version of the common cold. The illness seems to have originated out of a military boot camp in Texas and since then 140 illness have been attributed to the new cold bug. Of course people with weak immune systems, such as those who have HIV or AIDS, children, and the elderly are more at risk for fatality if they were to pick up the mutated virus.
As alarming as this seems, it is something that should have seen coming and should be more prepared for. The article mentions an adenovirus vaccine, in the form of a pill, that was previously given to military recruits and may be brought back in hopes to curb the emerging sickness. I could see how a virus like this could spread quickly among other immune deficient populations like college students and low income families. These populations live in a high stress environment, do not get enough sleep or nutrition and many times can not afford adequate health care. College campuses are known for sudden outbreaks of all kinds of diseases from colds to STD's. It should be important that we keep a close watch on this virus and start developing programs to research it just in case a stronger vaccination is needed.
My husband has told me that when he was in basic training many of the recruits would come down with all kinds of weird sicknesses. It was a common occurrence, he said, to see many of the recruits at sick call with everything from colds and worse. However, he also said that they were given so many shots that it killed most of whatever the recruits had pretty quickly. The military is already short handed as it is and they do not need the same adenovirus that causes the common cold to kill off the couple of recruits they need. I am pretty sure the military will keep abreast of the situation and pump its members with more vaccines in order to fight this new version of the infection.
