…You begin to review in your mind all the possibilities, beginning by asking, “What do we know?” We know that she is a 20-year-old female, in excellent health, who is now complaining of nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain for the past 6 hours, all of which seem to be getting worse. There are so many options: she could be dehydrated, have food poisoning, have viral gastroenteritis, be pregnant, be constipated, or maybe even have an acute appendicitis….
For several issues of the WMNL, human ectoparasites are being explained. Myiasis, caused by the botfly and Tungiasis an infestation caused by the Tungas penetrans flea, have been discussed. In this issue we will focus on lice.
epidemiologyInfluenza (flu) occurs in annual cycles infecting millions of people and causing hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. In the US, during a normal season, the flu infects hundreds of thousands of people, resulting in approximately 35,000 deaths. Click here for a Q&A information on the flu from the Centers for Disease Control.
You are five days into the wilderness on a 14-day trek across the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia. Early that morning, one of your fellow trekkers comes over to your tent to let you know that she felt feverish most of the previous night. Throughout the night, she felt hot, sweaty, and at times, she had chills.
