Doctor, Doctor...
By Dave Hall
For all you hypochondriacs out there, Dave Hall continues his regular look at a some of the more unusual medical conditions, as well as some you thought you knew all about.
This week: MARBURG VIRUS.
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Condition – Marburg is a haemorrhagic fever, which originated in Uganda and Eastern Congo. The virus (a kind called a filoviruses – that’s long and straggly to you and me) was first documented when 31 people became ill in the German town of Marburg in 1967. The disease hit the headlines in spring 2005 when an outbreak occurred in Angola - some 300 people died from it there in just a few months. It is thought the vector is a fruit bat, but this has not been confirmed.
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Contagion – Highly contagious, the disease is spread through bodily fluids, including blood, excrement, saliva, and vomit. It starts as a normal looking fever and headache, but when you start haemorrhaging and your liver and pancreas start failing, you know it’s not just a cold and, boy, you’re in trouble.
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| Danger of death – The fatality rate can be as high as 95% in some outbreaks. So be careful when playing with bats. | |
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Incurability? – No known cure, so treatment is usually more supportive in nature, not great if you’re bleeding through your ears. Much work is being done on vaccines for this and the similar Ebola virus, but are still some way off.
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Likelihood of getting time off work – You’ll be stuck in a top security bio-tent if you contact this condition, so no chance of an early call back to work. If you survive, the common secondary infections (hepatitis, eye, spine and other infections) may still keep you off work for even longer.
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| Brag-ability – If you survive, it’s going to be quite a tale of triumph. If not, no one will know what happened after you complained of having that week-long headache. |
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Overall ridiculousness – Not too clever if you end up with this one but that’s unlikely unless you’re heavily into Central African fruit bats. Fortunately, that rules out most holiday makers. |
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More conditions to come soon:
Copenhagen disease, Smallpox and more.
Find more curious conditions in Doctor Doctor. If you can't wait for the next Doctor Doctor, then why not find a Phunny Phobia to keep you going?
Photo: CDC, USA
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