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A6 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 9 March 2019
CDC: Unvaccinated Oregon boy almost dies of tetanus

By GILLIAN FLACCUS diagnosed with the highly 2015. It’s rare among chil-
Associated Press contagious viral illness since dren; those over 65 are the
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Jan. 1, as well as a handful most vulnerable.
unvaccinated 6-year-old of people in Portland, Or- In the case in Oregon, the
Oregon boy was hospi- egon. boy cut himself on the fore-
talized for two months for Unlike measles, which is a head while playing and
tetanus and almost died virus, someone who has his family stitched up the
of the bacterial illness after survived a case of tetanus wound themselves. Six days
getting a deep laceration is not immune and can get later, he began clenching
on his forehead while play- the illness again if they re- his jaw, arching his neck
ing on a farm, according to main unvaccinated. Teta- and back and had uncon-
a case study published Fri- nus also isn’t transmitted trollable muscle spasms.
day by the U.S. Centers for person-to-person by sneez- When he began to have
Disease Control and Pre- ing or coughing like the trouble breathing, his par-
vention. measles, but instead comes ents called paramedics
The 2017 case is the first from bacterial spores that and he was transported
case of pediatric tetanus are found in the environ- by air to Oregon Health
in Oregon in more than 30 ment. & Science University in
years and alarmed infec- Tetanus spores exist ev- Portland.
tious disease experts who erywhere, particularly in When he arrived, he asked
said tetanus is almost un- the soil. When an unvacci- for water but could not
heard of in the U.S. since nated person gets a deep, open his mouth.
widespread immunization penetrating wound, those The child was sedated,
began in the 1940s. spores can invade the cut put on a ventilator and
The child received an and begin producing the cared for in a darkened
emergency dose of the tet- bacteria that causes the ill- room while wearing ear
anus vaccine in the hospi- ness. plugs because any stimu-
tal but his parents declined In this May 27, 2013 file photo a needle with tetanus vaccine is The tetanus bacterium se- lation made his pain and
to give him a second dose prepared by a nurse practitioner on a tornado ravaged street in cretes a toxin that gets into muscle spasms worse. His
— or any other childhood Moore, Okla. the bloodstream and latch- fever spiked to almost 105
shots — after he recovered, Associated Press es onto the nervous system. degrees (40.5 Celsius) and
the paper said. “This is an awful disease, but unsuccessful. Anywhere from three to he developed high blood
“When I read that, my jaw ... we have had a mecha- News about the tetanus 21 days after infection, pressure and a racing
dropped. I could not be- nism to completely prevent case comes as lawmak- symptoms appear: muscle heartbeat.
lieve it. That’s a tragedy it and the reason that we ers in Oregon and Wash- spasms, lockjaw, difficulty Forty-four days after he was
and a misunderstanding have virtually no cases any- ington are considering bills swallowing and breathing hospitalized, the boy was
and I’m just flabbergast- more in the United States is that would end non-medi- and seizures. The disease able to sip clear liquids. Six
ed,” said Dr. William Schaff- because we vaccinate, lit- cal exemptions for routine can cause death or severe days later, he was able to
ner, an expert in infectious erally, everyone.” childhood vaccines as the disability in those who sur- walk a short distance with
diseases and chair at the The paper did not provide Pacific Northwest weathers vive, Schaffner said. help. After another three
Department of Preventive any details about the child, its third month of a measles About 30 people contract weeks of inpatient reha-
Medicine at the Vanderbilt his family or where they live outbreak. Seventy people tetanus each year nation- bilitation and a month at
University School of Medi- in Oregon and attempts to in southwest Washington, wide, according to the home, he could ride a bike
cine in Nashville, Tennes- get that information from most of them unvaccinat- CDC, and 16 people died and run — a remarkable re-
see. the paper’s authors were ed children, have been of it between 2009 and covery, experts said.q

Feds probe alleged prison

cellphone use by ‘Pharma Bro’

bidding inmates from con- posting regularly to social into our facilities, including
ducting business and pos- media and even firing the contraband cell phones,”
sessing cellphones. company’s chief executive the agency said in a state-
Shkreli, 35, is serving a sev- a few weeks ago. ment to The AP. “The BOP
en-year sentence for secu- Shkreli’s defense attorney, continually evaluates and
rities fraud at the Federal Benjamin Brafman, de- deploys as appropriate,
Correctional Institution at clined to comment. contraband-detecting
Fort Dix, New Jersey, a low- The Bureau of Prisons said technologies, including
In this June 19, 2017, file photo, former Turing Pharmaceuticals security prison complex federal prisoners caught in walk-through metal detec-
CEO Martin Shkreli, center, arrives at Brooklyn federal court in about 40 miles (65 kilome- possession of cellphones tors and whole-body imag-
New York with members of his legal team. ters) from Philadelphia. He face up to an additional ing devices.”
Associated Press was found guilty of lying year behind bars if convict- Shkreli had been charged
By JIM MUSTIAN using a contraband smart- to investors in two failed ed. Shkreli also could face with eight counts of secu-
Associated Press phone. hedge funds and cheating disciplinary sanctions within rities fraud, conspiracy to
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal The U.S. Bureau of Prisons them out of millions. the prison if he is found to commit securities fraud
authorities said Friday they told The Associated Press The Wall Street Journal re- have conducted business. and wire fraud, for his role
are investigating claims it has opened an inquiry ported this week that Shkre- “Like all correctional agen- managing MSMB Capital
that Martin Shkreli has been into whether the man nick- li has used a cellphone to cies, the BOP continues to Management and MSMB
running his pharmaceutical named the “Pharma Bro” call the shots at his drug tackle the problem of con- Healthcare between 2009
company from behind bars violated prison rules for- company, Phoenixus AG, traband being introduced and 2014. q