Daily Kos

3rd N.C. Soldier Dies W/Flu Symptons-109 degrees fever

by bradnickel

Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 05:25:45 PM PDT

So, is this depleted uranium?

An attack of some sort on our soldiers with bio weapons?

A new Gulf War Syndrome?

His family said he had symptoms like the flu. He fought it for three weeks, but his fever soared to 106 degrees. The day after Christmas, he died.

"They came out in five minutes and said, 'He's gone,'" said Duane Garton, Clay's father.

According to a preliminary autopsy report, Garton's liver and spleen were swollen. His wife said doctors told her he died from infection.

It is the third recent example of soldiers dying after exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Capt. Gilbert Munoz was a special forces soldier at Fort Bragg who was deployed to the Middle East. After he got back, he died from a bacterial infection.

Sgt. Christopher Rogers was a reservist from Raleigh. He went to Afghanistan. After he came home, his temperature hit 109 degrees. His widow, Windy Rogers, wonders whether he had what Munoz had.

"Chris was admitted with flu-like symptoms. Whatever it was, it shut all of his organs down -- shut them all down -- and I want to know what happened," she said.

See what we do?  We are just getting started feeling the repercussions.  This is going to be the biggest cluster f*ck ever.  I don't necessarily think this will be widespread, but it very well could be. It also could be something they picked up at home, but do ya really think that's the case?  The fact is we have no clue how bad all the things we do (depleted uranium, post traumatic stress, etc.) in this war will harm our society for decades to come. For what?

Are we incapable of learning any lesssons?

Update: Sorry, I edited some text and deleted the link. and also deleted the credit to drudge report(uggh).

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Permalink | 18 comments

  •  I feel your anger... (none / 0)

    but it's pretty pointless to speculate without autopsy and pathology results...

    Dudehisattva...

    "Generosity, Ethics, Patience, Effort, Concentration, and Wisdom"

    by Dood Abides on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 05:26:32 PM PDT

  •  Recommended. (none / 0)

    I wouldn't mind seeing an investigation of THIS come out of dKos.

    -9.63, -7.03 Rage, rage against the Lying of the Right

    by Maryscott OConnor on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 05:26:32 PM PDT

  •  A and E investigation (none / 0)

    There was an IR on A and E about this. A couple, can't remember if they both had it or not, were in the first Gulf War, and had these symptoms. They came to the conclusion after much investigating, that it was their exposure to DU that caused it. Of course, this was...JEEZ I think 6-7 years ago I saw it so I might be remembering it wrong. <G> Now I must go search A and E and see if they still have it for sale.

    Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. Abraham Lincoln

    by melthewriter on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 05:28:39 PM PDT

    •  Let us know if you find it. That at least would.. (none / 0)

      ...allow investigators to see if there is a common thread between all and the things they have been exposed to in the war and their genetics, etc.

      ClickBrain.com

      by bradnickel on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 05:36:39 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  DU is like a "dirty bomb" (none / 0)

      I don't know why people don't make this connection, but the environmental radiological contamination from DU is going to be roughly equivalent to the much-feared "dirty bomb".

      There are two types of DU contamination. First, there are the stockpiles of DU rounds that amount to a high concentration of radioactive material. We can assume the military takes the necessary precautions when managing this ammunition, although it's not something that's definite.

      The second type of DU contamination comes in areas where the DU ammo is used. The DU rounds litter the area, as well as creating a bunch of DU dust that comes off the rounds as they are fired and hit targets. This dust contaminates everything and would be easily inhaled by people who occupy the area.

      It would not surprise me that our military personnel are being poisoned by DU. What I am surprised by is the fear by people of "dirty bombs" that would be less threatening than prolonged exposure in areas where DU ammunition was fired.

      Are you shaking or biting the invisible hand?

      by puppethead on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 05:47:37 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  DU unlikely to cause rapid-onset fever (none / 0)

    From my medical opinion, this illness sounds like an acute VIRAL illness, not bacterial. There are some powerful antibiotics (antibacterials) out there these days, and it seems unlikely that they couldn't control such a fever.

    Viral illnesses are treated with antiviral medications and herbs. Hospitals in the U.S. don't use herbal antivirals, and those antiviral drugs are very few and very far between, and very specific for the type of virus they treat, a.k.a. AIDS drugs.

    By the way, if a person's temperature hits 104 or 105, they should be put in a bathtub with cool water running on them or even ice in the water to bring down the body temperature until professional help arrives.

    DU would cause slow, insidious destruction of tissues and genetic-based problems. It could weaken the person enough over time to cause immune destruction, and hence, any bacteria or virus could become life-threatening by fever. (Also could cause the body to host protozoa and fungi as well.)

    Share. Share resources, share delight, share burdens, share the healing. If we only could realize that sharing will bring us back from mass suicide.

    by MarkosNYC on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 05:59:57 PM PDT

  •  Spanish Flu 1918-1919 (none / 0)

    If you're interested, this is more or less how the Spanish Flu started... it brewed in the trenches of Europe during WWI, and then spread to the populace once the men were back home in America and Canada. Then it got the doctors and nurses, and then it spread, killing millions worldwide.

    by moonfall on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 06:21:49 PM PDT

    •  Actually... (none / 0)

      The "Spanish Flu" is generally considered to have started here in the states. The first recorded cases with similar symptoms came from a military base here (but remember it's speculation, since influenza virus wasn't identified until many years later). It is speculated that these first cases were then transported to Europe and spread in the trenches like wildfire, and subsequently carried back to local populations in the countries fighting the war.

      Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity, only not as much fun.

      by Toktora on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 08:01:47 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  This site has lots of depressing info (none / 0)

    It is Gulf War Vets .com. I origionally looked around here after seeing a Newsday story about 8 or 9 months ago about a couple of Vets who had strangely accelerated
    DU cancer like symptoms. Their wives also got sick, and both had come into contact with their husbands unwashed clothes right after their return from the Gulf.
    Hey George, how bout cutting vets benefits some more? Theyre dying so quickly they won't really need them anyway.

    Hands off my Social Security, John McCain.

    by emmasnacker on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 06:46:30 PM PDT

  •  I have a friend (none / 0)

    I have a friend who was deployed to Iraq for over a year as a medic. He just got back. Wonder what he thinks of this?

    Want to be a living kidney donor? I need one from someone with a bloodtype of B or O. Drop a note at riverheart.livejournal.com.

    by Kitsap River on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 07:11:35 PM PDT

  •  a soldier's lot is not a happy one (none / 1)

    Soldiers are shot up with a cocktail of vaccines and medications, then they go to a combat area where they are under constant stress, eat lousy food with no nutritional value, drink artificially-sweetened soda that's been sitting in the sun so that the aspartame has turned to wood alcohol (kills brain cells), get inadequate sleep, have to watch as friends get killed. Then they're subjected to DU, among other toxins, and an environment that may contain any number of hostile organisms.

    It's a wonder they don't all just fall down with non-functioning immune systems. As it is, the ones who survive will probably have a higher than normal rate of immune-system dysfunctions, such as cancer, chronic fatigue, Gulf War syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Not to mention PTSD.

    This high-temp flu-like whatever sounds very bad. Thanks for posting this. With more people aware of it, someone may see further news stories and post them.

    The degree to which you resist injustice is the degree to which you are free. -- Utah Phillips

    by Mnemosyne on Thu Feb 17, 2005 at 08:18:21 PM PDT

Permalink | 18 comments