UK based illness and diseases

[Tony]

The Lymes disease thread has got me thinking about all the different things we need to be careful of just in the UK, even though it's got to be one of the safest places to be outdoors there's still lots of consideration needed when going about and being in the outdoors, Lymes disease for instance and there's many others.

I thought it would be a good idea to create a thread where we list them and over time it will grow into a good list. We're interested in things you can catch, get bitten by etc outdoors rather than all the other nasty things that happen to us no matter what.

Tetanus is another one that i'm conscious of as it's everywhere and my Dad told me some horror stories from when he was younger. I think it's way beyond the 10 years now for me to have a booster, although I think that they have done away with teh boosters and mixed it with some other injection....diphtheria?

 

[Bushwhacker]

Weils disease.
Poorly cooked food.

You can get botulism from garlic too.

 

[Doc]

Bat Lyssavirus is similar to rabies and can be caught from bites or scratches from infected bats:

http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1215157152257

Never handle bats unless you have the appropriate training, licensing and immunisations.

 

[gregorach]

Tetanus is another one that i'm conscious of as it's everywhere and my Dad told me some horror stories from when he was younger. I think it's way beyond the 10 years now for me to have a booster, although I think that they have done away with teh boosters and mixed it with some other injection....diphtheria?

Well, if you ask for a booster they'll normally say "we no longer give routine tetanus boosters", but if you explain that your hobby involves mucking around with sharps and dirt a long way from help, they'll give you one. And yeah, it does come with diphtheria IIRC...

Those who participate in water sports may also be at risk of Leptospirosis, aka Weil's Disease, although it's quite rare in the UK.

 

[BorderReiver]

Necrotising fasciitis, caused by streptococcal infection of a wound.

Rare but can be rapidly fatal if not treated very quickly; can also lead to amputation of the bits that are infected in order to prevent death.

This is picked up in the same way as tetanus but AFAIK, there is no immunisation available.

 

[BorderReiver]

Well, if you ask for a booster they'll normally say "we no longer give routine tetanus boosters", but if you explain that your hobby involves mucking around with sharps and dirt a long way from help, they'll give you one. And yeah, it does come with diphtheria IIRC...

Those who participate in water sports may also be at risk of Leptospirosis, aka Weil's Disease, although it's quite rare in the UK.[/QUOTE]

As we are all supposed to be living within 7 feet of rats, it won't be that rare.

Most of the cases I came across were guys doing for a living what we do as a hobby.

 

[Doc]

Re tetanus jags, I posted on this back in 2004.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1482&highlight=tetanus

People born after 1961 should have had five tetanus jags, which is considered to give life long immunity for most people.

There are two exceptions where 10 year boosters may be appropriate. Both of these might well apply to outdoors folks.

The new vaccination guide 'The Green Book' came out in 2006, but the only change is that now a tetanus booster includes not only diptheria but polio booster too.

 

[Melonfish]

Very, very rare but does happen: Anthrax.
its a soil borne pathogen, animals inhale the spores (as can humans) or you can get it from cuts in the skin or by ingesting infected meat from grazing animals.

possibly the most extreme and likely to be at the far end of the "what you can catch" scale but it is out there and worth thinking of when crossing grazing land as many of us do.

as for tetanus, i went to the docs recently for a shot and was told i do not NEED boosters etc. apparently the course i've had (since 75 they've used this course) means you get 5 shots in your life and then your covered unless you have major surgery or a massive wound.
******, sticks, cuts and grazes shouldn't require it?
i'm somewhat sceptical over this tbh i reckon i should probebly seek further advice from another gp.

Pete

Edit: DOC posted whilst i was

 

[BorderReiver]

On the Anthrax front, apart from I.V. drug abusers, the most recent cases have involved imported animal hides used for making drums.

 

[xylaria]

liver fluke. water born parasite caught from eating watercress raw from infected water. Regard all water in uk as infected unless you gathering from the out feed of a watercress farm. Native brits have quite a good immune reponce to liver fluke.

There is a whole host differant lurgys that are transmitted by animals urinating on plants. Foxs cats, dogs and hedgehogs all carry parasites in their wee that can make us ill. This is why veg wild or not should be washed before eating. Repeated exposure does give immunity, which is why some people can much unwashed wayside plants all their life and never get ill.

TB it is possible to catch TB from bone dust, i think you also catch brusellosis(sp?), in the same way. Bone dust is really bad for your lungs anyway . wear a mask or use hand tools on wet bone if working wild animal bone.

Mosses harbor a basic fungi that infects the skin and leaf litter can produce fungal and bacterial lung infections. The spores from mushrooms don't make humans ill in that why, but can set off type hay fever.

Well the human immune system needs something to keep it busy. Theres nowt wrong with healthy bit of dirt.

 

[Neumo]

Dont know if it counts but on the being bitten front I picked up a case of Chiggers last year while out amongst the trees. Took a good week of baths & antiseptic wipes, plus lots of washing of coats etc.. before I got rid of them.

 

[rik_uk3]

liver fluke. water born parasite caught from eating watercress raw from infected water. Regard all water in uk as infected unless you gathering from the out feed of a watercress farm. Native brits have quite a good immune reponce to liver fluke.

There is a whole host differant lurgys that are transmitted by animals urinating on plants. Foxs cats, dogs and hedgehogs all carry parasites in their wee that can make us ill. This is why veg wild or not should be washed before eating. Repeated exposure does give immunity, which is why some people can much unwashed wayside plants all their life and never get ill.

TB it is possible to catch TB from bone dust, i think you also catch brusellosis(sp?), in the same way. Bone dust is really bad for your lungs anyway . wear a mask or use hand tools on wet bone if working wild animal bone.

Mosses harbor a basic fungi that infects the skin and leaf litter can produce fungal and bacterial lung infections. The spores from mushrooms don't make humans ill in that why, but can set off type hay fever.

Well the human immune system needs something to keep it busy. Theres nowt wrong with healthy bit of dirt.

Best stick to canned food then.

 

[Nagual]

... hmm there are several things you could catch out this way... Salmon, Trout, Artic Char and Powan.. you'd have to be lucky though and it may cost you some..


Cheers,

 

[leaf man]

Whats chiggers? The squits??

 

[Melonfish]

Whats chiggers? The squits??

i swear this'll put you off bushcraft for ever!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae

 

[spiritwalker]

still it could be worse you could stay at home, get arthritus, asthma, piles, flu, swine flu, bird flu, man flu, obesity, heart disease, bone disorders, cancers, gastric disorders, elongated thumb disorder (xbox kids), vd, STD's, common cold and a whole host of other non healthy living disease / being around people disease etc etc. So i wouldn't worry too much in my opinion your going to get ill a hell of lot more in civilisation than out of it sure the risks are more severe on your own in the middle of nowhere but during all these so called pandemics your better off suffering from deli beli in your debris shelter :-D

 

[Rebel]

You can get botulism from garlic too.

That's only from raw garlic preserved in oil without acidification.

Read:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/safefood/newsltr/v2n4s08.html

 

[w00dsmoke]

Personally I've been bitten by an adder...which wasn't that bad really. I've caught ringworm (fungus not the riggly...) from being around cattle I think. I'm seriously concerned about things like cryptosporidium which is in the water everywhere up here. I'm also really freaked out by parasites...not sure if we can catch many of them but having worked on a deer farm for a bit you get your eyes opened to the various nematodes and tapewormy things that are transmitted in faeces. Have a look at deer poop and see for yourself. The next time you feed the swans in your park look at their poop... have a closer look, nearly all swan poop has worms in it... remember that the next time you go swimming in the wild! I'm not sure if we can catch mange...

TBH good hygene is the key and I think Doc mentioned that a fair bit in the past...soap and water is your defense.

The worst thing I have caught other than chiggers n thread worms... was salmonella b. I caught it and nearly died from it. I had serious amounts of fluid in a drip over 10 days in an infectious diseases unit and took reactive athritis which left me on crutches for months after it. Being a notifiable disease which scared the crap out of me literally. Apparently it was possibly from a borehole contaminated with cattle faeces or from cattle/deer faeces. The scary thing was the time between feeling unwell and actually being incapacitated was around 2 hours. Literally I could not move without being sick out of both ends violently. I think the gravity of it hit home when the doctor phoned an ambulance... If that had happened during the night on a canoe trip away from roads or mobile reception there was no way I would have got out alone or unaided.

 

[Miyagi]

Tony, I'd like to say a big thank you for this thread.

Very informative, but it's given me the heeby jeebys and I'm itching like a flea ridden dog now at some of these posts.

Yeuch!!

Liam

 

[Doc]

Fish tapeworm has been mentioned - I think in a thread about eating raw fish (Poisson a la Smeagol as they say in Michelin-listed restaurants.) Don't know much about this but I'll look it up.