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Yesterday
we told you about
dozens
of domainers being bedridden after falling ill
upon return from last week's DOMAINfest
Global conference in California. When
I wrote that 24 hours ago I personally knew of
about 50 attendees who were all suffering from
the same symptoms after all become sick
with flu-like symptoms at roughly the same
time (starting last Sunday). Today the
sick list grew by another 50%. At
this point, more of my friends have fallen ill
than have remained healthy.
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Yesterday
there were almost three dozen people on
the sick list that Nico Zeifang
(one of those who fell ill) started on
his Facebook
page (you need to be one of
Nico's Facebook friends to see this
page). Tonight that number is up to 55
on Nico's list. I knew of a dozen others
who were not listed there and that
number is now up to about 20
more. Since only a handful of his people
have access to posting on Nico's page I
am certain the number of people ill is
easily in triple digits,
especially since we are hearing only
from domainers, not people from the many
other sectors represented at the
show. Anecdotally,
some people who have been hard hit
reported feeling better today (David
Castello among them) while others
reported no change and some even
felt worse. Many, including my wife Diana,
who also fell ill (I did not), also
went to their doctors (very important
to do if you are not getting better
at this stage). In every case I have
heard about the doctors prescribed antibiotics
which are used to fit bacterial
infections rather than the flu
virus. |
Image:
Michal
Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
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At
first most assumed that was a huge flu
outbreak but when it became apparent
that just about everyone had fallen ill
with the same symptoms at the same time
(indicating they were exposed to the
infection at the same place) a
bacterial infection (likely water borne)
became the lead suspect.
Especially since people who had gotten
flu shots still fell ill and only
began recovering after getting
antibiotics. |
Since
one likely bacterial candidate - legionella pneumophila
- produces the same symptoms as the flu
it is impossible to tell what people have
without running lab tests and in just
about every case, doctors are not going to order
those expensive tests unless the patient is seriously
ill, with pneumonia for example (so
far only one victim has reported having
pneumonia). Instead they will do what they
are doing now - prescribe antibiotics if they
suspect a bacterial infection is at work, as
many doctors have concluded after hearing that
so many fell ill in the same place at the same
time.
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We
should be getting a much better picture
of where this is headed in the next
24-48 hours. If it is legionella,
there are two strains of that
bacteria to be aware of. The milder
one, known as Pontiac fever,
usually runs its course in 2-5 days and
will normally die out on its own. So,
those who fell ill Sunday, should be at
the end of the gauntlet by the
end of the day tomorrow (the |
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Image:
Sura
Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
same
is true if they are battling influenza).
The much more dangerous strain creates a
form of pneumonia, the infamous Legionnaire's
Disease (this Center for
Disease Control (CDC) link describes
both strains of this bacteria) that
requires treatment. We are not seeing
any widespread reports of pneumonia like
illnesses, so it seems very unlikely
we have to worry about that one (still,
Legionnaire's is more common than many
realize - between 8,000 and 18,000
people are hospitalized with it each
year in the U.S.). |
For
those who asked if anyone has contacted the CDC
about this incident, yes - they have been
contacted through their website which advised
that, due to a high volume of reports being
filed, it takes them several days to follow up
on each one. In
addition to the issue of a bacterial infection,
remember that it is also quite possible that
some of those reporting in sick have a bad case
of garden variety influenza that happened
to hit them at he same time as others fell ill
from something else - we are in the middle of flu
season after all. I received a couple of
reports today from people saying their spouse's
had caught the illness from them. If you have
normal flu that certainly could have happened,
but if you have a bacterial infection, that is NOT
contagious so no one else is going to get it
from you. It is normally contracted by inhaling
infected airborne water vapor or mist (which
is why many suspect the fog machine in operation
at the Playboy Mansion party last
Thursday night, though it should be noted, there
is no proof of that). Whatever
the cause, the most important thing right now is
for everyone to take the best possible care of
themselves (including seeing the doctor if your
condition is not improving). I'm hopeful that by
this time tomorrow night, reports are flooding
in from people who feel like they have turned
the corner and are well on their way back to
being completely healthy again.
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