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In Bloom [September 10, 2004]
The principle storyline in this episode of Medical Investigation concerns
adolescent health from suspected sexually transmitted diseases to weight control problems.
The Team receives a page from the Syndromic Surveillance System which alerts them to a cluster of patients with the same symptoms.
For more information on this surveillance system, as well as other systems:
After examining the patients, the team suspects the girls have viral encephalitis, a complication of
herpes simplex virus. For additional information on herpes encephalitis,
see “Viral Encephalitis in England, 1989–1998: What Did We Miss?”
CDC scientists also work on arboviral encephalitis. Humans can
contract this form of encephalitis after being bitten by an insect carrying an arbovirus. West Nile Virus is an example of an
arbovirus.
The teenage patients in this episode are found to have been accidentally poisoned by
organophosphates, a chemical pesticide. For more information
on pesticide poisoning, see Pesticide Illness & Injury Surveillance from
CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
One of the teenage patients suffers from the peer pressure of being thin. For more information and statistics on diet intake and
weight issues among adolescents and youth, check out this page from the
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.
To lose weight, she swallows a pill containing a tapeworm. Below are some of the infections that can result from ingesting this
parasite.
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