[pct-l] Sanitation

[RJ Lewis]

Heh, on the issue of valley fever.....my hubby and I worked in the deep, 
high deserts of AZ and NV for 2 years+ crushing gravel for various road 
and construction projects, often mining out virgin (never been opened 
before) gravel pits-- leaving us at a HIGH exposure for valley fever. 
And yes, our entire crew contracted this unique illness, as well as our 
pets. Valley fever often leaves few if any symptoms- most folks don't 
even get ill. Pets can get ill, and young pets can even die from it. 
Symptoms often mimic lung cancer, if a chest xray is taken- this is what 
happened to our crew foreman. He went to Reno for a check-up and they 
mistakenly thought the poor man had lung cancer!! (no kidding) After a 
biopsy and surgery, they found out the poor man had valley 
fever......(poor guy!) and he had gotten a HUGE scare for nothing.

 Valley Fever is untreatable and there is no vaccine for it. Just an FYI.

Alot of hiker illness is often contracted by sharing GORP and other 
foods between each other, if you don't indeed get giardia. Treat suspect 
water and don't share food /gorp bags.

Soul Sista


Ellen Shopes wrote:
> Ok, sort of right...you don't have to worry about getting sick from your own E. coli.  But you do need to think about other sources of microbes you have picked up on your hands (from dirt, animals, water, shelters, etc.).  Having said that, it is also true that many pathogens do not survive well outside a warm, moist body; probably the worst danger is hiker to hiker transmission.  I know of a Colorado River trip in which the cook (who was coming down with Hepatitis A) transmitted it to many of the clients.
>
> Which leads me to a water story (even though I know I won't change anybody's opinion about how they treat water)...A friend of mine (who was a Ranger in the Tetons) got giardia from drinking water running straight out of a glacier.  You'd be surprised what critters do their duty on snowfields.  I think it would be prudent if people plan on not treating their water, that they carry a course of antibiotics with them to treat the bad stuff should it occur.  
>
> How many hikers think about keeping their Tetanus vaccination up-to-date? 
> How many worry about getting Valley Fever from the desert soils?
> Let's get a bit of paranoia going...
>
> Ellen
> (the worrier)
>
>
>
> basically, can you get sick from
> accidentally eating trace amounts of your *own* poop because you didn't
> sanitize your hands after going to the bathroom? 
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