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Source: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/10/28/infection-baffling-doctors/
Mysterious Infection Linked To Water Targets Healthy, Fit People In Our Area
October 28, 2016 3:35 PM By Stephanie Stahl
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) ? A medical mystery is being investigated in Montgomery County to learn more about a lung infection that has been linked to water. The disease is called Nontuberculous Mycobacteria or NTM.
It?s a lung infection, similar to tuberculosis, that is caused by a bacteria found mainly in water but also in soil and in the air. Doctors say NTM is rare but the number of patients is growing.
The unlikely victims are white, thin, post-menopausal women who live in affluent neighborhoods around Philadelphia?s Main Line. ?This is being researched very intensively right now,? says Dr. Leah Lande, a pulmonologist at Lankenau Medical Center which is part of Main Line Health.
?This is in all of our water,? she says. ?We are exposed to it everyday when we take a shower.?
Dr. Lande doesn?t want to cause unnecessary hysteria and emphasizes that the lung infection is very rare. She says she treats about 100 patients a year. Symptoms include a cough and fatigue.
A study from the American Thoracic Society and the National Institutes Of Health in 2012 identified 7 significant clusters of NTM around the country. One of the clusters was found in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area where significant clusters were identified in Montgomery County...
Mysterious Infection Linked To Water Targets Healthy, Fit People In Our Area
October 28, 2016 3:35 PM By Stephanie Stahl
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) ? A medical mystery is being investigated in Montgomery County to learn more about a lung infection that has been linked to water. The disease is called Nontuberculous Mycobacteria or NTM.
It?s a lung infection, similar to tuberculosis, that is caused by a bacteria found mainly in water but also in soil and in the air. Doctors say NTM is rare but the number of patients is growing.
The unlikely victims are white, thin, post-menopausal women who live in affluent neighborhoods around Philadelphia?s Main Line. ?This is being researched very intensively right now,? says Dr. Leah Lande, a pulmonologist at Lankenau Medical Center which is part of Main Line Health.
?This is in all of our water,? she says. ?We are exposed to it everyday when we take a shower.?
Dr. Lande doesn?t want to cause unnecessary hysteria and emphasizes that the lung infection is very rare. She says she treats about 100 patients a year. Symptoms include a cough and fatigue.
A study from the American Thoracic Society and the National Institutes Of Health in 2012 identified 7 significant clusters of NTM around the country. One of the clusters was found in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area where significant clusters were identified in Montgomery County...