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US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 3 deaths - 1 probable due to Epstein-Barr virus, 1 probable due to influenza, 1 confirmed due to lymphoma

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  • US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 3 deaths - 1 probable due to Epstein-Barr virus, 1 probable due to influenza, 1 confirmed due to lymphoma

    Thursday, 09 May, 2013

    US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

    Two teenagers from Montgomery and Liberty counties have died, and a third is in critical condition. Health experts said all three shared similar symptoms. Now they are working together to figure out what is behind it all.

    Tyler Lane Budro, 17, was the first case. He got sick in February and died on March 10. Tyler lived in Liberty County and was a junior at Hull-Daisetta High School. His mother said he first had a fever, and then violent seizures started days later. An infectious disease specialist in Montgomery County said Tyler, as well as a teenage girl and a teenage boy in that county had similar symptoms. The girl died on April 29. The boy is in critical condition at a Houston hospital.

    The specialist also said the teens' symptoms included a fever, coughing, pneumonia, seizures and respiratory failure. Dr. Syed Ibrahim is Montgomery County's epidemiologist. He said they ran 30 tests on the teens, including checks for rabies and meningitis. All tests came back with negative results, so health experts still have no idea what any of the teens came down with.

    Dr. Ibrahim and other area health experts are still looking for answers. "I'm really concerned. I'm sad as well because these are the cases of the teenagers in our county," said Dr. Ibrahim, MD, MPH. Parents and students at New Caney High School, where the teen who is in the hospital attends, are worried too.

    "I think they should have informed us about it more 'cuz it's not right that some kids don't know about it and other kids are spreading (rumors) making it worse," said student Courtney Villareal. School officials in New Caney ISD said they did not notify parents because they don't have enough information. They said they don't know what they're dealing with at this point. Dr. Ibrahim said the disease or diseases do not appear to be contagious."

    Some in New Caney ISD said they are afraid people might panic. Health experts stress there is no need for that. They're just stumped. Tyler's grieving mom is hoping experts can crack the case very soon.



    ?Addressing chronic disease is an issue of human rights ? that must be our call to arms"
    Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief The Lancet

    ~~~~ Twitter:@GertvanderHoek ~~~ GertvanderHoek@gmail.com ~~~

  • #2
    Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

    I wonder if they have tested for influenza...

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

      The first fatality, Tyler Budro, has tested positive for Epstein-Barr virus ("mono"), but it is unclear whether that virus alone caused his death:

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

        EB Virus: "Every Body's Virus".

        In the United States, as many as 95% of adults between 35 and 40 years of age have been infected.
        ?Addressing chronic disease is an issue of human rights ? that must be our call to arms"
        Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief The Lancet

        ~~~~ Twitter:@GertvanderHoek ~~~ GertvanderHoek@gmail.com ~~~

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

          Originally posted by Gert van der Hoek View Post
          EB Virus: "Every Body's Virus".



          http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/ebv.htm
          Agreed. EBV is exceedingly common so might be a background detection. Nevertheless, it calls into question the initial article in this thread, which states that ALL tests have come back negative.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

            I wonder if they have tested for hantavirus? Another disease comes to mind because of the meningitis like symptoms, Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis (LCM). Although that only has a cfr of something like 1%. Could it have mutated? I wonder.
            Please do not ask me for medical advice, I am not a medical doctor.

            Avatar is a painting by Alan Pollack, titled, "Plague". I'm sure it was an accident that the plague girl happened to look almost like my twin.
            Thank you,
            Shannon Bennett

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

              EBV may re-activate in some circumstances, such as other infections or immunesuppression.

              If they have found an active EBV infection - rather than IgG - it may be of some importance for discovering the actual disease factor.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

                Tyler Budro attended high school in Daisetta (photos at link):

                http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...ls-1608665.php
                Daisetta's huge sinkhole draws state officials' attention
                Massive sinkhole continues to grow near Daisetta
                By Cindy Horswell | May 7, 2008
                [snip]
                Lester Edwards, Liberty County's hazardous materials coordinator, said nobody knows how big the hole may get or when it will stop growing. He said all authorities can do is monitor the pit and keep people from danger.

                By nightfall, the hole was located on the property belonging to the Deloach Vacuum Disposal Co., but only a block from the town's fire station and Hull-Daisetta High School.
                _____________________________________________

                Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

                i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

                "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

                (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
                Never forget Excalibur.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

                  Back away from deadly snail, Houston neighborhood is told Compiled by Chron.com | May 7, 2013 | Updated: May 8, 2013 3:02pm
                  Update: NBC is now reporting that the snails seen in a Houston neighborhood are probably not the giant African snails that carry a parasite that causes meningitis...
                  http://www.click2houston.com/news/us...m/-/index.html
                  USDA: Snails found native to Texas
                  USDA: No evidence of giant African snails in Houston
                  Published On: May 08 2013 12:49:53 PM CDT
                  HOUSTON -

                  The United States Department of Agriculture found snails native to Texas during searches in Houston and Austin Wednesday instead of the potentially deadly giant African snails.
                  Giant African snails can carry a parasite called rat lungworm, a form of meningitis. Local 2 viewers said they saw the snails in west Houston and Katy, but the USDA said they were likely Rosy Wolf or Channel Apple snails....
                  But native snails carry meningitis-causing rat lungworm, too. So why is the USDA giving the impression they are safer?

                  http://www.galvbayinvasives.org/Guid...maceaInsularum
                  Apple snails are an intermediate host to the rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonesis), a parasitic worm of rats. People can become infected by this parasite by eating raw or undercooked snails or by eating raw produce contaminated by rat lungworm larvae. People with mild infections usually recover fully. However, severe infections of the parasite can cause eosinophilic meningitis. Rat lungworm has been found in apple snails collected from New Orleans, Louisiana (Teem and Gutierrez 2008).
                  _____________________________________________

                  Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

                  i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

                  "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

                  (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
                  Never forget Excalibur.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

                    I cannot also help but notice that while the initial article mentions respiratory symptoms, the excluded diagnoses of rabies and meningitis, as well as the other posts, seem to indicate a primarily neurological illness.

                    This is going on in suburban Houston, the same city that reported a possible mild human infection with rabies in 2009, the only such case known worldwide:



                    That case, like these three, was also a teenager.

                    Might some other rabies-like virus be circulating in animals in the Houston area (and infecting humans how?) and be just similar enough to rabies to cause what might be a cross-reactive test in 2009?

                    Also, keep in mind that Houston reported a possible, but unconfirmed, dengue outbreak (with two fatalities) in the past few years:

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

                      unidentified illness has taken the lives of two area high school students, with a third teenager in critical condition.

                      According to KHOU Channel 11, health officials report that all three have shared similar symptoms that appear to begin with pneumonia-like ailments before quickly devolving into seizures and respiratory failure.

                      The medical mystery started in February when Liberty County resident Tyler Lane Budro developed a fever that was followed by violent seizures just days later. The 17-year-old junior at Hull-Daisetta High School died on March 10....
                      .... KHOU reports that the disease or diseases do not appear to be contagious. Autopsies are being performed, but results could take several months.http://houston.culturemap.com/news/c...cal-condition/
                      CSI:WORLD http://swineflumagazine.blogspot.com/

                      treyfish2004@yahoo.com

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

                        Posted by Scott Engle on May 7, 2013 in Local / Area News |

                        two teens die, one critical and still no answers
                        ?
                        ...
                        On Friday February 22, Tyler?s father came home in the afternoon to find him on the floor in seizures. He immediately put him in his vehicle and started for Baptist Hospital in Beaumont again. Halfway there he was met by an ambulance as the seizures hadn?t stopped. That was the last time Tyler was conscious.
                        ...
                        Doctors were baffled by his condition \mono is not known to attack the brain as in Tyler?s case. . He once again tested positive for Mono but the symptoms were not that of Mono as . The seizures did slow after heavy medication. The swelling of the brain did not slow. Doctors had to remove more of the skull than they would a trauma patient to ease the pressure of the swelling brain.
                        ...
                        Tyler passed away March 10th on the sixteenth day.
                        ...

                        ...On arrival to TCH, she began to seize uncontrollably and was put on a ventilator. Her seizures became longer and more extensive and after exhausting all efforts to control the seizures, the doctors had no choice but to medically induce a coma. Testing revealed swelling in her brain and pneumonia. The doctors are left no stone unturned because they wanted to know more than ever how this perfectly healthy girl went from having the flu to being on life support in a matter of days...
                        ...
                        Katie died April 29, sixteen days after her first doctor visit.
                        ...

                        Then on the same day Katie got sick B.J. Crawford was taken from class by MCHD after his fever spiked and his blood pressure dropped... His symptom?s closely resemble the other cases except for the fact he has not had any seizures. He was friends with Katie Rios.
                        ...
                        Today his lungs have totally given out and he is now on life support. Several different types of doctors from all over are meeting to discuss the possibility of doing a bone marrow test?

                        Full text:
                        "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
                        -Nelson Mandela

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

                          We hope that experts will be able to make a final diagnosis for these two Young patients severe illnesses.

                          At margin, I could only add that an environmental exposure to a toxic chemical may have impaired severely their immune system (ie benzene fumes or other leukopenizing agents), activating a quiescent EBV infection and possible enhance viral spread into brain and lungs.

                          This may be the reason behind the above mentioned intention to take bone marrow samples from patient(s).

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

                            A part infectious diseases agents, we may search for:

                            -- acute toxic encephalopathy;

                            -- acute toxic leukopenia;

                            -- acute toxic bone marrow damage;

                            -- exposure to volatile compounds, recreational drugs, dye, occupational exposure (or during teaching classes), environmental contamination with toxic substances, etc.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: US, Texas: Unidentified Illness (fatal) - 2 died, 1 critical

                              Originally posted by Pathfinder View Post
                              Posted by Scott Engle on May 7, 2013 in Local / Area News |

                              two teens die, one critical and still no answers


                              Full text:
                              http://main.montgomerycountypolicere...=66546&cpage=1
                              That article also contains:

                              On April 11th, a beautiful healthy 17 year old girl came down with symptoms of the flu. She had fever, body aches, malaise and it stood to reason that Katie had the flu as there was a known diagnosis of the flu in the immediate family just a few days earlier.

                              That suggests that Katie had contact with a confirmed influenza case. Also, the article indicates toward the end that B.J., the third case, has very low platelets, which might be an important clue.

                              It is also far from clear to me that all three of these people have the same disease, either, although the fact that the last two may have had some contact or some common exposure should raise some alarms.

                              Comment

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