Legionella

[LuisP]

Well, this is far more serious than Ebola .... from where I'm writing.

It doesn't kill as much, true, but it is airborne inside water vapour, which you inhale when taking a shower.

Less than 20 miles from where I'm typing, a still undisclosed "pathogen reservoir" is spreading mayhem. It is now, officially, the 4th largest ever spread of this disease worldwide.

It apperead last Friday - November 7 - with 3 cases diagnosed in a local hospital.

Today, November 10, more than 233 cases are reported.

With 5 dead, in the interim.

[LuisP]

As with all sudden and out of "statistic" situations .... this one stinks.

It has to be man made. As in, caused by.

Since we're but an insignificant speck inside the grand scheme of global chaos and money cash-flows, it will have nothing to with the usual culprits. But with petty, local and also insignificant motives.

But it is scaring people, and killing some.

As intended, I suppose.

[LuisP]

Maybe I oughtn't to have, I wonder, bashed that CDC guy for not paying us attention regarding Ebola. We have yet to diagnose a single case, notwithstanding the daily thousands of Africa comers and goers from here to and from its epicenter's region.

Then again, shite happens, so go figure.

[StarCat]

As you said Luis, Legionella occurs in water and spreads via water vapor. I remember when PeeTee had a bout with it. I know pneumonia is painful and can be deadly. Been there and done that twice in six months a couple of years ago, courtesy of dirty evaporative coolers in patient homes. What's worse, is that the families denied any problems. Okay. Kill off your loved one. I'm not helping. Got the hell out of Dodge as the saying goes. Take short showers and hold your breath.

Cat

[Mikado14]

Evaporative coolers? In private homes? I suppose I learned something.

I used to maintain the unit on the School where I taught back in the 80's. They were water hogs in a sense and the ability to transmit a disease is the same in an A/C system as well for both create condensation. The slang term we used was "chiller" for the unit.

Just stating that both systems could be the harbinger of the strain.

Mikado

[StarCat]

You're probably correct. I don't know what the system was in the hotel where the ailment cropped up in 1976. I probably should have been more clear that my pneumonia was caused by mold spores. A/C units can harbor those as well. We should all just stop breathing. Breathing is overrated anyway.

Cat

[Mikado14]

Cat, once a year we would disassemble the chiller and wash it down with diluted Clorox. But that didn't really do too much. But I do remember it would always have a funky smell.

That is one reason I don't prefer A/C too terrible much except in my own home where I can wash down the evap with a Clorox dilution.

Mikado

[StarCat]

A bit of cleaning and sanitizing goes a long way. When the "swamp cooler" smells like a swamp, it's overdue for a cleaning. When a patient's lungs are gurgling more than his belly, that's a problem. But what do I know?

Cat

[LuisP]

Thanks for the advice, Cat. But hell, I'll play the odds and keep showering and breathing. Love too much my daily invigorating Rituals bathing gel to cut it short (yes, I indulge in those small things).

As to this mess

278 cases, as of today.
The ratio is slowing down, only more 45 cases than yesterday. Plus two others guys who travelled to to Peru and Angola, just to arrive there and get a first hand experience of local hospital care.... our "CDC" is saying that rain and cooling temperatures are "pushing it down", so maybe we'll have a break soon.


It is being an enlightening experience of what an airborne "thing" can do.
Very.

[StarCat]

One could indulge in much worse things than pleasant shower gels. Stay well.

Cat