The Associated Press
ATLANTA
- While on spring break in Acapulco, Mexico, over 100 college students from across
the country contracted a respiratory disease, the government reported Friday.
All the students spent time at the Calinda Beach Hotel and reported getting
sick about 10 days after returning home. Centers for Disease Control officials
believe the disease may be histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that typically is
easily treatable.
"It's not real serious for healthy people with no underlying
health problems," CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said. The illness is not contagious.
Officials first noticed the outbreak at a Pennsylvania college, and traced
the problem to Acapulco after networking with other college health clinics, Reynolds
said. Infected students have been identified in several states, she said.
The
hotel is still open and working with health officials to prevent the airborne
disease, Reynolds said. Symptoms include acute respiratory distress, fever, body
aches and a nonproductive cough that can develop into pneumonia.
Many
of the infected students reported spending time at the hotel's pool. The fungus
resides in soil and is often found in areas with bird or bat droppings.
CDC
researchers say the disease also may be Coccidioides Immitis or the bacterial
Legionnaires' disease.
The Legionella bacteria sometimes resides in heating
and cooling systems from which it is inhaled. |
