More health troubles brewing in New Orleans

Jacqueline Stenson MSNBC contributor

As people in New Orleans struggle with the immediate health concerns of getting clean drinking water, food, and life-sustaining medicines and treatments, many will face additional threats to their well-being in the days and weeks ahead, doctors and infectious disease experts say.

People with chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure who don't get the medications they need to keep their conditions under control could be at risk for heart attacks and strokes as their health deteriorates. Those with allergies, asthma or other chronic lung disorders could have more trouble breathing from airborne irritants, and later on, from mold that develops in homes and buildings.

"Routine diseases just get worse in any type of condition like this," says Dr. Don Herip, a public health specialist at Palomar Pomerado Health Systems in San Diego who helped with military medical relief during Hurricane Andrew in Florida.

And besides the huge emotional toll that Hurricane Katrina is taking, anyone residing in flooded areas runs the risks associated with polluted, stagnant water, including various water-borne diseases and an expected bumper crop of virus-transmitting mosquitoes.

Dirty, dangerous water
"That water is dirty and dangerous, with bacteria and viruses and chemicals," says Dr. Jeffrey Starke, director of infection control at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, which he says is helping with the medical care of flood victims bused to the Astrodome.

Not drinking the water is critical for avoiding various viral and bacterial illnesses. Among the germs to be concerned about are E. coli and salmonella, which can cause acute gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea.

But skin infections that develop in cuts, scrapes, insect bites and blisters are another big concern, according to Starke. "These can easily get infected, especially from the flood waters," he says.

With no soap and clean water to cleanse the wounds, and no antibiotic ointment or bandages, the risks increase. "Skin infections can get pretty doggoned bad," he says. In severe cases, bacteria that enters the bloodstream can cause serious infections throughout the body. Sunburns hike the risk of infection as well.

People huddled together in crowded shelters are particularly at risk from disease spread, such as infection with agents like the Norwalk virus, which has sickened people on several cruise ships, says Dr. Paul Eder, an infectious disease specialist at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore.

"If one person gets it, it starts spreading like wildfire," he says.

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