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Infection warning spreads north

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?

newsid=14664272 & BRD=1998 & PAG=461 & dept_id=221589 & rfi=6

Walz, Peak Editor 06/08/2005

With one case of fungal infection on the lower Sunshine Coast,

River doctors are on the lookout for symptoms especially

among the elderly

A fungal infection previously found only on the east coast of

Vancouver Island has now spread to the Sunshine Coast, Lower

Mainland and the Fraser Valley.

The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) issued a

notice last week that cryptococcal disease was identified in three

people and six domestic animals living in the Vancouver Coastal and

Fraser health regions.

Since 1999, there have been 129 cases, resulting in four deaths

among residents or visitors to Vancouver Island.

Dr. Martiquet, medical health officer for the Sunshine Coast,

River and Sea-to-Sky corridor, confirmed there has been one

case of the disease on the lower Sunshine Coast.

Martiquet said the person who contracted the disease didn't travel

to Vancouver Island, which makes him believe the fungus could be in

the River area as well.

" I have informed River doctors to keep an eye out for any

chronic pneumonia or lung infection that they're unsure about, " he

said. " There is a blood test and a culture that you can do to

determine the Cryptococcus and there's treatment as well. "

According to the BCCDC, a great majority of the time, exposure to

the fungus results in no symptoms or illness.

Infection occasionally occurs leading to disease of the lungs

(pneumonia) or the nervous system (meningitis) in both humans and

animals. People over the age of 60 are at a greater risk for

infection.

Symptoms of cryptococcal infection in humans include prolonged cough

(lasting weeks or months), sharp chest pain, unexplained shortness

of breath, weight loss, undiagnosed fever, night sweats, and severe

headache.

Symptoms in animals range from runny noses and lumps under the skin

to fatal infections of the lungs or nervous system.

Cryptococcus gattii, the fungus that causes cryptococcal disease,

occurs naturally in the environment, on trees and in the soil.

Cryptococcal disease can only be acquired by breathing in fungal

spores that are present in the air. It can not be transmitted from

person to person or from animals to people.

©The River Peak 2005

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