Saw this on another list. Thought it might interest somebody
ANTHRAX, HUMAN, 2001 - USA (05): POSSIBLE CHRONIC SYMPTOMS
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: Sun 11 Sep 2011
Source: phillyBurbs.com, Calkins Media, Inc [edited]
<http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/health-problems-linger-for-survivors-of-the-anthrax-attacks/article_cdbde23e-d9de-5735-bee8-d15824e1c651.html>
Health problems linger for survivors of the anthrax attacks
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In the 10 years since 17 people survived the deadly anthrax attacks
that terrorized the nation in the weeks following 9/11, little recent
information is known about their health. But the National Institute of
Health has quietly monitored the health of 7 of the those survivors,
including [a Falls resident]. The group represents the largest pool of
anthrax survivors US researchers have studied. The ongoing study will
provide the 1st comprehensive data on the long-term health effects of
anthrax exposure, the project's head researcher said recently. "No one
has ever documented follow up in anthrax survivors," said Dr Mary
Wright, the principal investigator with the NIH's National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Disease [NIAID].
Before 2001, the last reported US anthrax case occurred in 1976, and
it was reported 2 years later, according to the NIH. The only previous
anthrax studies were 50 years old and contained little data about
long-term effects or possible complications.
In fall 2001, 22 people in the US were exposed to anthrax through
tainted letters sent through the US mail. 5 died. Many of those
affected were US Postal Service [USPS] workers, who either inhaled
anthrax spores or were exposed to it through skin contact.
NIAD is the only research agency that is following the health of
anthrax attack survivors, a project that started in February 2002. The
study participants include 2 with inhaled exposure, and all but one
are regularly tested and evaluated every one to 2 years, Wright said.
The testing includes neuropsychological, blood, and hormone level
tests. The study will continue as long as the participants are
willing. And one survivor, a woman who has not recently participated,
can return at any time, Wright said.
The most recently released information about the health of the
survivors came in 2004. It was based on a one-year follow up study of
15 of the 17 survivors conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. That study used medical interviews, standardized
self-administered questionnaires, and a review of available medical
records.
The study found that 8 of the participants hadn't returned to work
more than a year after the attacks, all were under psychiatric care,
and most reported symptoms ranging from chronic cough, fatigue, and
memory problems to depression, anxiety, and hostility. 8 survivors
also reported moderate to severe joint problems and decreased physical
functioning. But diagnostic tests performed on 6 of the 8 patients
showed no signs of immune or inflammatory disorders or other common
medical explanations for the symptoms.
Nearly 9 years later, Wright says her data shows the survivors who
were the sickest in 2001 continue to experience the most persistent
symptoms, including memory trouble and chronic fatigue. These
survivors either inhaled anthrax or had it enter their bloodstream
after they contracted the skin form.
The sickest patients also have had the most difficulty returning to
work. Though some have returned, they can't perform at the same level
as before, Wright said. Those with less severe symptoms appear to have
returned to their regular lives.
Wright added that researchers know some survivors will develop common
age-related medical problems, but there likely will be no way to prove
a cause-effect relationship with the anthrax exposure. "We are hoping
what we learn, once we publish, is if there are new cases, including
natural cases, that they can learn from this experience and monitor
some of these variables, like hormone levels and memory testing and
offer some support to folks," Wright said.
[The Falls resident], now 45 and a US postal worker, was the 12th of
the 22 anthrax attack victims. 4 coworkers also were exposed and
survived.
He returned to his job at the Hamilton, New Jersey, office in 2005,
where he continued to work a "modified schedule" through Workers'
Compensation, according to a recent post on the PostalWorker News
Blog, which isn't affiliated with the US Postal Service.
He came in contact with one of the tainted envelopes, a letter
addressed to then Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, while working
overtime on Columbus Day 2001. Normally, he didn't sort 1st-class
mail.
5 days later, he noticed a welt-like sore on his neck where he had
nicked himself shaving the day he worked the overtime. He was treated
at an emergency room for a suspected spider bite and released. The
next morning, though, he woke to find his neck had swelled to 27
inches [69 cm] around. The welt was now a pus-filled boil and a
softball-size lump protruded from his chest. He returned to the
emergency room, where doctors confirmed he had an anthrax infection,
triggering emergency infectious disease protocols. After 5 days in
isolation with antibiotic treatments, [the man] was released.
[He] last spoke to the newspaper in 2008. At the time, he complained
of symptoms that he believed were the lingering effects of the anthrax
-- stuffy head, achy joints, throbbing headaches, insomnia, and panic
attacks.
In a [6 Aug 2011] post on the PostalWorker blog, [the man] wrote that
he still suffers severe post traumatic stress disorder, which a doctor
has diagnosed. He said his condition has been worsened because he
continues to work at a postal center 300 yards [275 m] from the
building where he was exposed to anthrax and he's required to sort and
throw away waste mail.
He added that his repeated requests for a job transfer closer to home
have gone nowhere. "Without having been through this experience, it
has been impossible for others, including US Post officials, to
comprehend the mental and physical toll I face each day driving back
and forth to work and seeing the postal facility, a constant reminder
of this terrible, near-fatal exposure I suffered," [his] post said.
"This has proven to be no help whatsoever in me trying to obtain
closure and getting on with my life. I just want to spend my last
years of service at a facility with a less stressful, remindful
environment."
The USPS cannot comment on employee claims without the employee's
written permission, spokesman Ray Daiutolo said. But Daiutolo said
that if an injured worker disagrees with the offered position, that
employee can provide supporting documentation to the Office of
Workers' Compensation Programs, which makes the final decision. If an
employee is returned to duty in a "suitable position" and subsequently
experiences a worsening of his/her condition or has a change in work
tolerances, that employee has the right to submit a claim for
recurrence, Daiutolo added.
[Byline: Jo Ciavaglia]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Obviously there are overlapping conditions of advancing age, mental
stress, and trauma, and possible chronic lesions directly associated
with the anthrax infection. Off the cuff I would expect that the
ongoing problems to be associated with the 1st 2 aspects. Those of us
working every day with various diseases and pathogens can be unaware
of the sharp stress of being ill with those same diseases can have on
ordinary folk. We look forward to reading Dr Wright's report on her
study when it comes out. - Mod.MHJ]
[see also:
2002
----
Anthrax, human - USA: 2001 review 20020920.5367]
.................................................mhj/mj/mpp
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