• neuropean@kbin.social
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      6 months ago

      Pneumonia and a MRSA infection, also suffered a stroke. I wonder if someone could weaponize MRSA, perhaps aerosolize it?

      • Ranvier@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        MRSA is just a version of staph aureus that is resistant to some common antibiotics. The antibiotic resistant version is common everywhere now since we use so much antibiotics. The antibiotic resistant version doesn’t make someone sicker in and of itself than the non resistant version, it just doesn’t respond to some antibiotics. From context I gather this was MRSA pneumonia.

        Staph aureus lives on all of our skin, mouth and external surfaces. It’s not like something you catch, it’s something that’s already there and takes advantage of an opening, like a wound, lungs already damaged by a recent flu virus or something, or a weakened immune system. It’s common that people in the hospital get staph infections, because they’re already there for something else making them sick that gives staph an opening. Strokes are also more common in hospitalized patients that are sick with other things. Strokes usually aren’t directly related to an infection, but the pro inflammatory response can increase clotting and make a stroke more likely. Strokes also can inversely make pneumonia more likely, if you have trouble swallowing and saliva and secretions are going down the wrong tube, then it creates an easy way for bacteria from your mouth like staph to get to the lungs and start up a pneumonia.

        Tldr: MRSA is on your skin right now, don’t worry about it too much, don’t overuse antibiotics

        • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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          6 months ago

          Ever woke up and noticed a small zit or pimple? Yep, that’s likely a staph infection, although there might be some streptococcus in there as well. They probably also entered your blood stream, but got quickly eliminated by your immune system. It’s all about the bacterial load.

          Which is why you should not scratch wounds, even when they itch really bad. Here is a pic of my leg from almost a year ago, it got out of control because I kept scratching the wound and ignored the occasional flaring pain until it got so bad that I almost passed out when moving my leg. This is a combination of staph aureus and strep pyogenes when they really thrive in your wound. If those had been resistant strains, I would have been in a lot of trouble.

          graphic image

            • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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              6 months ago

              Well, shortly before Christmas 2022, a friend from out of town came over to drink and reconnect. Somewhat late into the evening, I was going to the refrigerator to get some more beer and on my way there I have to pass 2 devious steps totaling about 15cm in height. I slipped, or tripped -I don’t really remember-, and fell bang on the edge of the upper step. A fair bit of my tumble was cushioned by my behind (left a bruise there) and the rest was absorbed by my leg. Pic below was from the morning after and the pic in my post above was after a month of scratching that wound and ignoring the damage I inflicted.

              It’s a pretty neat comparison, you can really see the swelling and which parts of the wounds were surface scratches and which went deeper.

              less graphical image

        • Infynis@midwest.social
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          6 months ago

          It’s possible. But corporations haven’t changed in the past 100 years. Wizards of the Coast hired the Pinkertons, film studios have more power now than they ever did back when they were broken up with anti-trust laws, and children are still working in dangerous factories. It’s not much of a stretch to believe that a massive military contractor would engage in some good old fashioned corporate assassination.

          • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Or heck just someone who works there and doesn’t want to go down with the ship. I doubt they are having high level board meetings about plans to kill people.

        • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Sure, and I could be Andy Kaufman. You have to admit that there is at least a chance that Andy Kaufman didn’t die of cancer, faked his death, hid for decades for no clear reason, and is talking to you now.

          • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
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            6 months ago

            That’s true, but I would say its significantly less likely than my theory of a person dying, as they often do. Its also a distinct possibility it was caused by an external force as people here are insinuating. I just don’t think its a good idea to pretend that’s the only plausible explanation.

            • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              Sure must be a coincidence. Nothing to see here. Another Boeing whistleblower just randomly died within a month of a different one.

              I wonder if you will maintain your position when the next one dies

              • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
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                6 months ago

                I have no position other than believing its a possibility it wasn’t an assassination. Assuming that’s what you’re referring to, yes I will maintain that position.

                • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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                  6 months ago

                  And I am pointing out that you are being technically correct but in practice it isn’t possible to live that way so it serves nothing.

                  Anything is possible that isn’t literally impossible. Most things however are so unlikely that even considering them as possible are a waste of time. But what the heck do I know? You could be Napoleon who got a time machine, learned English, came to this year to write this reply, and you can’t respond back because you have to go back to your own time. Presumably to lose at Waterloo.

                  It’s possible right? Cool. It is possible for a man in good health in his 40s to get a random antibiotic resistant infection and die just as he was giving evidence against a forrupt military contractor who killed another whistleblower last month.

                  • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
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                    6 months ago

                    Me being Napoleon Bonaparte and a person dying without outside influence are not on the same level of possible. Everyone dies, most without interference. As far as I’m aware, there is no documented case of someone traveling through time to argue on the internet. One might even call that impossible.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        6 months ago

        dude literally all you have to do for this shit is put people in incredibly stressful situations. It’s commonly understand that medical issues, particularly serious ones are worsened by stress.

      • RunningInRVA@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        It was an hospital acquired infection. It happens frequently. This conspiracy talk here is just nuts.

          • RunningInRVA@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            No it didn’t. The first guy died of apparent suicide. I agree that one feels suspicious, but I think there are a lot of “what ifs” getting clumped together into a giant shitball of a conspiracy.

      • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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        6 months ago

        Getting ahold of mrsa bacteria from a person who currently has an infection would be a trivial matter. The stuff is more hardy than most virus’ and can survive on things like towels for upwards of a week without even trying to keep it alive.

          • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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            6 months ago

            First of all; I was only answering the question about if you could weaponize mrsa. Not anything about if this guy could have had it done to him. MRSA survives on surfaces for extended periods of time and is very contagious, so yes, it would be easy to do.

            As to the rest of your comment: MRSA can cause sepsis, and coagulopathy is a common symptom of sepsis. So really you’re just asking the wrong question. The guy died of complications from a MRSA infection.

            • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              It’s not nearly as contagious as you’re making it out to be. I’m a nurse who directly cares for patients with MRSA. Nosocomal infections are a major issue and require contact isolation to prevent but MRSA in general is not a particularly scary pathogen. If you wanted to deliberately infect someone, you’d have to straight up inject them with it.

              Staph aureus is already everywhere and even community aquired MRSA is becoming common.

              There was a time when we screened everybody, but now we don’t even do that. It ended up being considered a waste of contact isolation gear and carer time to gown up before you entered 1 in 5 rooms that just happened to have a positive MRSA skin swab.