Iraq war casualties often complicated.Hundreds of injured soldiers returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan harbor an unusual bacterium that complicates their wound healing wound healing Physiology The repair of a wound Steps Inflammation, repair and closure, remodeling, final healing; repair of incisions may be either simple–'clean' wounds with little loss of tissue heal by 'primary intention', or 'dirty' wounds heal by and may be spreading to other patients in hospitals where the soldiers are treated, a new study shows. Moreover, the microbe microbe /mi·crobe/ (mi´krob) a microorganism, especially a pathogenic one such as a bacterium, protozoan, or fungus.micro´bialmicro´bic mi·crobe n. seems to be lingering in soldiers, cropping up during rehabilitation care received months after they have returned to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Paul M. Scott, a physician at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research This article is about the U.S. Army medical research institute (not the hospital). Otherwise, see Walter Reed (disambiguation). The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is the largest biomedical research facility administered by the U.S. in Silver Spring, Md., and his colleagues isolated the bacterium, called Acinetobacter baumannii Acinetobacter baumannii is a species of pathogenic bacteria which forms opportunistic infections.[1] There have been many reports of drug-resistant A. baumannii infections among American soldiers wounded in Iraq. , from 148 wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan between November 2002 and September 2003. Since then, more than 100 additional wounded combatants have been diagnosed with A. baumannii. Many of the A. baumannii strains found in these soldiers don't match those occurring naturally in Iraqi soil, Scott notes. Their origins are "murky," he says. A. baumannii can cause pneumonia and infect the urinary tract and blood, says Walter E. Stamm, a physician at the University of Washington in Seattle and president of the Infectious Disease Infectious disease A pathological condition spread among biological species. Infectious diseases, although varied in their effects, are always associated with viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular parasites and aberrant proteins known as prions. Society of America. The infection also slows wound healing. It respond to antibiotic treatment, and none of the combat casualties so far has died from the infection. However, 18 people in the United States and Germany who weren't in active service but were being treated in the same hospitals as the infected soldiers who have also been found to be infected with A. baumannii. Five of these other patients have died, Scott says. Richard L. Oehler, a physician at the James A. Haley James Andrew Haley (January 4, 1899 - August 6, 1981) was a U.S. Representative from Florida. Born in Jacksonville, Alabama, Haley attended the public schools and the University of Alabama. Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Fla., reports that seven of the nine wounded soldiers admitted there for rehabilitation between June 2004 and January 2005 harbored A. baumannii strains that were resistant to certain commonly used antibiotics. One soldier has died, and the others have recovered. "This is an unusual bacterium that has not been seen frequently as a cause of disease in U.S. hospitals," Stamm says. "Once it's introduced into a hospital, it can be difficult to get rid of."--N.S. |
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