Question: I live in a rural Western area where I spend a lot of my time outdoors, often in remote places. Some years back, I was smitten by Rocky Mountain spotted fever after a tick bite. It took all summer for me to recover. Now, just a year ago, I miraculously survived the dreaded hantavirus infection carried by rodents. I wonder if I am now protected naturally from these two viruses in the future.
- T.H.C.
Answer: Rocky Mountain spotted fever first. Exposure to its tick-carried Rickettsia germ causes fever, chills, severe headache and a characteristic red-spot rash. The spots become visible on the wrists and ankles, locations where rashes seldom occur.
Exposure to the Rocky Mountain spotted fever organism does confer lifetime immunity against it in future encounters.
I cannot give you that kind of assurance vis-a-vis the hantavirus infection. In man, the classic han-ta-virus infection includes an assault on the person's lungs, causing them to fill with fluid.
The matter of future immunity from subsequent hantavirus exposure is up in the air for now. While we have no solid data to claim future hantavirus immunity, neither do we have sufficient evidence to discount it.
Question: What causes dark circles under the eyes, and what can be done to correct the situation?
- F.R.V.
Answer: Your genes dictate the kind of skin you have. One of the consequences of inheriting velvet-smooth, delicately translucent skin is a proneness to dark eye circles.
Veins reflect through such skin, especially in places of particular translucency, as around the eyes. In the worst of cases, the whole under-eye area looks like a bluish-black shiner.
Some have a second force working against them: allergies. Here, blame the darkness on the nasal-area tissues, which foster swellings and pooling of dark blood.
Beyond checking out some of the allergy factors and searching around for reliable masking creams, there is little else you can do in the way of treatment.
For a detailed discussion of skin, see the report I'm sending you. Others can order a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue - SR129, P.O. Box 5539, Riverton, NJ 08077-5539. Enclose $3 and a self-addressed, stamped (55 cents) No. 10 envelope.
Question: I read the letter on pertussis - whooping cough. I had my pertussis immunization on time but managed to catch the dreaded disease much later on, at age 12. I was terribly ill for six weeks and missed lots of school. It was the most terrifying thing that ever happened to me. I cannot even begin to describe how I suffered. I was so fortunate to have gotten immunized against it as a young child. That's why my case was so mild. If mine was mild, heaven help those with serious attacks.
- S.H.
Answer: Whooping cough remains with us, and adults can get it.
You're right in that older patients may have less dramatic symptoms than infants do. In fact, many such as yourself draw on a partial immunity left over from the shots they got years before.
The older patient might mistake his whooping cough for some more-ordinary discomfort.
Before immunization, pertussis killed many young children. Parents today should assure proper protection.