Scurvy! How Many of Us Have These Same Symptoms?

[Guest guest]

MM Comments: My Internist in Dallas, stated, in '96, he thought many of us have a similar disease; based on his treaatment of nearly 2000 women, with mega IV doses of Viatmin C and other antioxidants by IV Therapy. He has not been proven wrong yet!

U.N. Health Agency Says Scurvy Is Part Of The Cause Of Afghan Outbreak

March 15, 2002 GENEVA (AP) - Scurvy resulting from poor nutrition is the primary cause of the outbreak of a deadly disease that has killed 40 people in a remote area of western Afghanistan, the United Nations health agency said Friday.

An emergency medical team from the World Health Organization that reached the area by helicopter this week has found widespread scurvy - caused by a lack of vitamin C - in 15 villages.

The disease, whose symptoms including spongy gums and bleeding into the skin, is believed to have weakened the population, making them vulnerable to a secondary, still undiagnosed disease, WHO said.

WHO said when it dispatched the emergency team earlier this week that an apparent secondary infection was causing fever and bloody diarrhea that was killing people in anywhere from two to 14 days.

But it said Friday that the death toll had held at 40 for more than a week.

There had been fears that the symptoms could indicate the highly contagious Crimean Congo hemorraghic fever, WHO said.

It said the team has also received reports of cases of night blindness that indicates a lack of Vitamin A.

It said a French medical team from the aid group Action Contre le Faim which discovered the outbreak more than a week ago had been airlifted to Herat.

"Doctors have examined members of the team," a WHO statement said. "None of them are showing any signs of hemorrhagic fever nor any other contagious disease."

WHO said it has also received reports of six deaths in Darwaz in Badahkshan Province in northeastern Afghanistan.

"The cases entail adults and children who reportedly developed high fever and a skin rash on the face, and then died within two days," the statement said. "Investigations are being carried out by local health officials with WHO support."

The WHO team also is carrying antibiotics to treat the diarrhea and an anti-viral drug used to treat hemorraghic fever.

WHO said earlier that the local population is calling the disease "black leg" because of internal bleeding that is causing black bruises on the body, especially the legs.

There are several different kinds of hemorrhagic fever with varying levels of seriousness ranging from mild illness to death. Ebola is one kind of hemorrhagic fever.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever broke out in Pakistan, Afghanistan's eastern neighbor, in late February. Doctors attributed the deaths of three people to the disease.

The virus that causes Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever - which is found in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe - is transmitted by ticks, which thrive on sheep and cattle. Infected people can transmit the virus by blood, saliva or droplets from sneezing.

The disease causes a sharp drop in platelets, which allow the blood to clot. Without rapid treatment by antivirus drugs and replacement of platelets, victims can bleed to death.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.