The boys trapped in the Thailand cave could face an unusual disease

By PETRINA CRAINE

 

In this July 3, 2018, image taken from video provided by the Royal Thai Navy Facebook Page, Thai boys smile as Thai Navy Seal medic help injured children inside a cave in Mae Sai, northern Thailand.

 

As the rescue efforts for the 12 boys and their coach trapped in a flooded Thailand cave have continued, the world has been hoping for the entire group's safe return to the surface.

 

But after surviving the weather conditions, severe body stresses and unimaginable emotional distress of being trapped for days in dark, wet caverns, the 13 have more challenges ahead. All that time inside the caverns has exposed them to a dangerous and rare infection, often called "cave disease."

 

What is 'cave disease?' 
Cave disease, also called speleonosis, is an infection with a fungus called Histoplasma capsulatum. It was first described in the 1940s as an “unusual” lung disease affecting a group of men camping in an abandoned storm cellar. The fungus is naturally found all over the world, thriving in settings ranging from the caves of Asia to the fertile riverbanks of the Mississippi River, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It grows in soil, aided by nutrients it gets from bat and bird droppings.

 

Full story: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/boys-trapped-thailand-cave-face-unusual-disease/story?id=56454631

 

-- ABC NEWS 2018-2018-07-10

Do you really think that you will find bat and bird droppings 4 km into a complex cave system?

Another nonsensical story from the American news media.

 

2 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Do you really think that you will find bat and bird droppings 4 km into a complex cave system?

Another nonsensical story from the American news media.

And do you think the boys didn't walk into the cave?   Do you think that the rain water hasn't, over time, carried the spores deep into the cave?   Do you also think that without food for 10 days and drinking unclean water wouldn't weaken their immune system?   

 

 

 

1 minute ago, Credo said:

And do you think the boys didn't walk into the cave?   Do you think that the rain water hasn't, over time, carried the spores deep into the cave?   Do you also think that without food for 10 days and drinking unclean water wouldn't weaken their immune system?   

 

 

 

Drank very clean water. Gathered their water from the walls of the caves. Rainwater filtered down through a kilometre of limestone rock is very pure. Yes they walked through the cavern near the cave entrance, so did hundreds of rescuers and many tourists before them.

Some good old Northern(above ground) Change Rai air should take care of that fungus .

7 minutes ago, mok199 said:

Some good old Northern(above ground) Change Rai air should take care of that fungus .

Agree that the lads need this far more than being caged in a hospital ward, completely pointless.

Give them a shed load of pad kprow and a football and they'll be fine.

Releasing such a statement at this precise moment is indeed unhelpful and irresponsible  !

Needless scaremongering. Glad their families can't read that rot. Little wonder ABC's home country is such a disaster.

Good news is Bob Dylan had it and he is 77. Bad news is Johnny Cash had it at age 23 and died 48 years later at 71. Thinking this is item #364 on the list of these kids problems.

For a moment I thought the unusual disease was going to be mobile phone withdraw syndrome.

 

Never mind the bat 5hit, along as they are not infected with Thainess they’ll be fine.

Troll posts removed.  

2 hours ago, Spidey said:

Do you really think that you will find bat and bird droppings 4 km into a complex cave system?

Another nonsensical story from the American news media.

 

Clickety click?

More worrying is the swarm of parasites that will descend and hover around the hospital beds whilst bearing gifts of chicken broth as a rue to feed on publicity so as to gather strength for the voting season.

25 minutes ago, lemonjelly said:

More worrying is the swarm of parasites that will descend and hover around the hospital beds whilst bearing gifts of chicken broth as a rue to feed on publicity so as to gather strength for the voting season.

Probably deck the beds in yellow flowers. 

This is the story the Thai "controllers" have put about so that they can keep the 8 rescued boys out of the limelight (and all the parents possibly kept in the dark), until all are rescued.  I would hazard a guess that the last boys out will not need to be kept in isolation anywhere near as long as the first 4....

4 hours ago, Spidey said:

Do you really think that you will find bat and bird droppings 4 km into a complex cave system?

Another nonsensical story from the American news media.

 

Spidey, news groups/reporters have to report. Face it. If they don't have anything to report, they look outside the box or they'll make a statement based on their own opinion. The american news media didn't post this story to Thaivisa. Obviously the poster thought it relevant. Are/were there any bats in this cave? Does it have to be 4 knms inside the cave to be a concern? I'd think, from reading the bits about it, that 'all' the people involved with the cave have potential to be exposed. Whether it's relevant or not, they got credit for a report.

 

BTW, my opinion of the american newsgroups (MSNBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, Fox & NBC) is pretty low, too. I watch/read the BBC mostly, but even they go off on tangents.

MAE SAI, Thailand (AP) - Thai health official says first 4 boys rescued are aged 14 to 16 and 2 of them possibly have a lung infection.

Think what boys need now is a media manager to handle the many money making opportunities ?

6 hours ago, mok199 said:

Some good old Northern(above ground) Change Rai air should take care of that fungus .

Luckily not burning season yet. A few mushrooms in the lungs would soon be cold smoked.

this story is made into its own topic yet posts about concern of nosocomial infection are deleted.

The only thing they will be infected with after a 15 day recuperation period with some antibiotics if need be 

will be the ghosts of the cave.

This is a classic case of media irresponsibility searching for anything that the opposition has not already

come up with. They will be fine

10 hours ago, Spidey said:

Do you really think that you will find bat and bird droppings 4 km into a complex cave system?

Another nonsensical story from the American news media.

 

Birds? Probably not. Bats? Very likely.

2 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Birds? Probably not. Bats? Very likely.

Having done a fair bit of potholing in my youth, I can assure you that 4km into a complex cave system there are no signs of any form of organic life. Bats don't venture beyond the first large cavern in a cave system.

9 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Having done a fair bit of potholing in my youth, I can assure you that 4km into a complex cave system there are no signs of any form of organic life. Bats don't venture beyond the first large cavern in a cave system.

....or past the first chamber that floods, which in this cave looks to the back of the main entrance.