Hundreds of troops wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan have been infected with a deadly bacterium in their bloodstream, cerebrospinal fluid, bones, and lungs. Civilians have also been infected after stays in military hospitals, reports the Los Angeles Times. Since 2003 at least 27 people in military hospitals have died after infection by Acinetobacter baumannii, an increasingly drug-resistant bacterium. The military claims it hasn’t tabulated how many have been infected overall. The outbreak has spread to at least six American military hospitals, including the hospital ship Comfort, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, and the Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. The rise in infections has been dramatic, comprising 2 percent of admissions at the specialized burn unit at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas in 2001 and 2002, 6 percent in 2003, and 12 percent in 2005. Other military hospitals have reported similar levels.
Julia Whitty is Mother Jones’ environmental correspondent. You can read from her new book, The Fragile Edge, and other writings, here.
