poo'ing for freedom

Correspondent:: "Caedinal Craaescentwrench"
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 17:04:02 -0500

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http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/feb/13us.htm

Diarrhoea a major threat to US troops in Iraq
Tony Tharakan in New Delhi
February 13, 2005 22:35 IST

Diarrhoea and related diseases are a major
threat to the American troops posted in the
Middle East, a report by the US-based
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research said.
"Diarrhoeal diseases are the number one threat
to the US soldiers in Iraq," Dr Malabi
Venkatesan, a researcher at the Institute's
Department of Enteric Infection said.
"Such diseases pose enormous logistical
and manpower problems," she said.

Though she could not give exact figures,
Venkatesan said during Operation Desert
Storm in 1991, at least 20 per cent of
US soldiers developed some kind of
diarrhoeal diseases, including dysentery.
Unsanitary living conditions, changes in
diet, and hygiene factors make diarrhoea
one of the most infectious 'disease threats'.
"Shigellosis or bacillary dysentery is
dangerous because as few as 100-1000
virulent bacteria can cause the disease,"
Venkatesan said.

Researchers at the Walter Reed Army
Institute are now developing new
vaccines to help US soldiers ward
off bacterial threats.