Are We Losing the War Against Germs?

Published November 20, 2014

With all this talk of global warming and all the confusing data surrounding its validity, I have begun to wonder whether any of the changes in weather pattern are enhancing any atypical diseases.

We have created a very dangerous state of balance between germs and humans, because now we have many germs that we have limited treatment for. And many scientists are saying that we are losing the war. For example we have MRSA , penicilin-resistant stapholococcus, c-dif, all of these germs seem to be creeping up.

It seems like the premise for an episode of "House."

But recently I read a story out of the west coast, describing a clinical problem that is just the perfect plot for the next episode of my favorite TV show. A couple of healthy teens walking through the woods in Oregon on a beautiful day coming back to their college campus, only to develop a severe unknown pulmonary infection that nobody can figure out after 4 or 5 days - with one of the hikers ultimately dying.

You think it could happen? The answer is, yes. It seems that the world of fungal infections is getting noted attention by some epidemiologists around the country. Now, for years, fungal pulmonary infections were known, but rare in the world of pneumonia, and usually affected people that had compromised immune systems like patients on chemotherapy or people afflicted with HIV.

But now, new mutated fungal organisms are infecting healthy individuals - sometimes with powerful and devastating effects. Most fungal pneumonias have been allocated to temperate climates, but now we're seeing these illnesses in regions where fungal pneumonias are not that common.

So I wonder_ Is the planet turning against us?

The presentation of a fungal pneumonia is very similar to bacterial pneumonia. Spores are inhaled by the victim... they grow in the lung tissue over several weeks, ultimately developing into a cough, fever - creating shortness of breath and destroying the parenchiyma of the lungs, which leads to lack of oxygenation and possible death. Many survivors of severe fungal infections could also have secondary damage to vital organs like the heart and kidneys.

Although I said at the beginning, I don't understand whether global warming is true or not, certainly many physicians are becoming aware that even minor changes in weather patterns could have a devastating effect when it comes to the relationship between nature and ourselves, and at the present time - we don't know where we stand.

So sometimes those farfetched medical mysteries that you see on "House" could be true and just as challenging as they appear. Certainly in real life - it seems the germs seem to be gaining the upper hand.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/health/are-we-losing-the-war-against-germs