The Army is trying to figure out what is causing a rash of serious pneumonia cases, including two fatalities, among troops serving in the Iraq war. A six-person team of specialists was en route to Iraq on Friday to investigate 15 cases of pneumonia so serious that patients had to be put on ventilators to breathe and were evacuated from the region, the Army Surgeon General’s office said Friday.
TWO SOLDIERS DIED, 10 recovered and three remained hospitalized as of Friday, spokeswoman Lyn Kukral said. Most were in the Army, but at least one was a Marine.
The team on its way to Iraq includes infectious disease experts, laboratory officers and people who will take samples of soil, water and air.
So far, officials have identified no infectious agent common to all the cases. Officials said there was no evidence that any of the cases were caused by exposure to chemical or biological weapons, environmental toxins or SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, the disease first noted in China this year.
A two-person team already has gone to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where most of the cases were treated after evacuation. The two teams also will review patient records and laboratory results and interview health care workers and patients, if possible, the Army surgeon general and U.S. Army Medical Command said a statement.
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KY3, the NBC affiliate has apparently been working on this story since the two soldiers died (both are from Missouri apparently). The parents of one of the deceased were told he had pneumonia, were escorted to Germany (I believe Ramstein AFB), and there they were told by military officials that they were not positive about what was affecting their son. The family spoke to KY3 earlier this week and said that the military does not have any additional info. as of yet, but the parent's after seeing their son in Germany are certain it wasn't normal pneumonia that took their son's life.
Sad news!
