Rare Blood Infection Surfaces in Injured U.S. Soldiers
Sunday, November 21, 2004 at 03:34AM
TheSpook
An unexpectedly high number of U.S. soldiers injured in
the Middle East and Afghanistan are testing positive for a rare,
hard-to-treat blood infection in military hospitals, Army doctors
reported on Thursday. A total of 102 soldiers were found to be infected
with the bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii. The infections occurred
among soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington,
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and three other sites
between Jan. 1, 2002, and Aug. 31, 2004. Although it was not known
where the soldiers contracted the infections, the Army said the recent
surge highlighted a need to improve infection control in military
hospitals. Eighty-five of the bloodstream infections occurred among
soldiers serving in Iraq, the area around Kuwait and Afghanistan, the
U.S. Army said in a report published on Thursday by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Military hospitals typically see about
one case per year. [more]
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