Nice “Signs Symptoms” Photos

A few nice signs symptoms images I found:

MEDFLAG 2010

Image by US Army Africa
Minister of Justice and Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Luzolo Bambi, reviews troops of the Armed Forces of the DRC Sept. 6 prior to opening ceremonies for MEDFLAG 10 in Kinshasa. MEDFLAG 10 is a joint training exercise between U.S. and Congolese militaries preparing both land forces for medical and civic assistance and mass casualty response.

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. James D. Sims.

U.S. Armed Forces along with the Armed Forces of Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) held an opening ceremony Sept. 6 at the Command and Staff College in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, to signify the start of MEDFLAG 10, a joint medical exercise.

“Today and throughout the exercise, we gather together as military personnel and civilians working together in the spirit of friendship and cooperation,” said Lt. Col. Todd Johnston, the MEDFLAG 10 U.S. forces task force commander. “It is inspiring to look back at where we have come from and look forward to where we are going.”

The ceremony began with the arrival of distinguished guests, including Luzolo Bambi, Minister of Justice and Human Rights for the Democratic Republic of Congo; Charge d’ Affaires Samuel Laeuchli; Maj. Gen. Marcelin Lukama, FARDC Chief of Defense Forces; and Col. Gilbert Kabanda, FARDC surgeon general.

The FARDC military police presented honors while the FARDC music battalion performed both countries’ national anthems.

“It is my hope that our respective national organizations will learn something about each other as they work together over the coming weeks,” said Luzolo. “In the end, it is about saving lives and minimizing human suffering in the event of a disaster.”

Following the opening ceremony, U.S. medical personnel began classroom instruction with the FARDC on familiarization of malaria signs, symptoms, causes and treatments. Both armed forces will continue classroom instruction on various medical topics for the next four days.

After all classroom instruction is completed both forces will work side by side to provide humanitarian assistance to Congolese citizens.

MEDFLAG 10 will continue through Sept. 18.

To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil

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Official YouTube video channel: www.youtube.com/usarmyafrica

Pic of the day – Whooping Cough, Maybe

Image by rosefirerising
Back to the doctors! But not for me, this time. My son might have
whooping cough, a.k.a. pertussis.

Vaccines have been doing amazing things. Think of polio, right? That’s
always the big success story. DTP (for diptheria, tetanus, &
pertussis) has always been a little bit more challenging. There have
always been people who absolutely can’t tolerate the full course of
the vaccinations. Both my children are among them. This was not by
choice. We tried, for both of them, and both had horrible horrible
reactions with severe pain. It’s quite a story, but I’ll save that for
another day. The problem, tho, is that then they are not protected,
and the protection upon which they must depend is that those around
them are protected and "IT" won’t spread (whatever "IT" is).

Today, it is whooping cough, with over 300 new articles reported in
recent news media.

Google News: Whooping Cough:
www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=…

There are even many articles in my state, including one in my exact area.

New Cases of Whooping Cough Reported in Washtenaw County:
www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/washtenaw_county/new-cases-o…

This is no real surprise, since we recently received a notice from my
son’s school (not mentioned in the article) that someone there has
pertussis. These are sent per the Public Health Department anytime a
dangerous contagious illness is making the rounds. I did the mom-thing
— sent a note to my son’s doctor saying, "Look at this, please. He
isn’t immunized for this. What can we do?" And the doc said, "Not
much. Watch for these symptoms, and bring him in if they show up."

Being mom, ahem, I am of course going to do more, anyway, just in
case. Watched his diet & sleep more than usual, made sure he carried
extra water, gave him ColdEeze a couple times a week to help protect
against *other* respiratory illness. I know, I know, ColdEeze only
protects against COLDS as in rhinovirus, and does nothing for
bacterial infections like pertussis. I figured it can’t hurt and might
help, so he was going to take them. Ah, well.

Here’s how it unfolded (briefly).

Tuesday: Niggling little cough, but he SWEARS he isn’t sick.
Wednesday: Comes home from school saying, "Where the pain meds?
My throat is killing me."
Thursday: He’s in pain, can’t talk, coughing constantly,
sleeping more than he has since grade school, miserable. I’m trying
everything I can think of. ColdEeze. Doesn’t do a thing. That means it
isn’t a cold. Strep? No, no fever, or only very low grade. My
thermometer broke, so I can’t be sure. Pharyngitis? Maybe, hmmm. His
dad asks, "Do you think this could be that whooping cough stuff?" I
say, "No. No way. I know what the whooping cough cough sounds like,
and it isn’t this."
Thursday night: He can’t sleep. He can’t stop coughing. I’m
giving him leftover Tessalon from last summer, and it isn’t seeming to
work very well at suppressing the cough. I give him Motrin. I give him
another Tessalon. I give him cough syrup. Finally he falls asleep at
1am. He is coughing again by 5am.
Friday: 5am, I give up trying to sleep and go looking whooping
cough online. Check the CDC.
I check MedlinePlus.
You know what? Whooping cough starts out looking like a cold. And that
distinctive cough does’t usually show up for 2 weeks, and sometimes
never in older teens and adults. Oh. Well, then, maybe. We’re going to
the doctor.

The doc decides since the kid with whooping cough at his school was
someone he knows, let’s go ahead and treat him, and test him. We’ll
find out his test results the day he finishes his antibiotics.
Meanwhile we are going to sit tight at home, and try to make him
comfortable. I’m glad we checked, doubly glad when the doc says that
when folks wait too long to come in the antibiotics can’t help them.
You have to come in in those first couple critical weeks, before the
bad cough starts and when most folk think it is a cold. To my
surprise, the doc says if the kid’s test comes back positive the rest
of the family will need to be treated. But, but, but, we were
vaccinated. We’ll be ok. Won’t we? Hmmm.