Accidents, mold pose biggest health problems in hurricane areas

[Guest guest]

{Interesting that 'mold' can be seen as a problem even as

insurance-industry pressure is being applied to labs that dare to offer

tests for anti-mold titers.}

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Accidents, mold pose biggest health problems in hurricane areas

11/11/2005, 1:03 p.m. CT

By STEPHANIE NANO

*The Associated Press

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-21/1131736452266800\

..xml

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Sr. was prying off molding from a

wall in his hurricane-ravaged home when a piece broke loose and hit him,

embedding a nail in his arm.

He pulled out the nail and headed to a temporary emergency hospital

downtown for a checkup and a tetanus shot.

" I just wanted to make sure, " the 57-year-old said while waiting

in the labyrinth of medical tents set up in a parking lot.

Health officials say accidents like ' and the explosion of mold

in homes and buildings pose the biggest health risks in Gulf Coast areas

hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The disease outbreaks feared earlier

didn't materialize in the weeks after the storms.

" People are going back to their house, cleaning up, going up on their

roofs, doing all kinds of stuff they're not used to, " said Dr. Raoult

Ratard, Louisiana's state epidemiologist.

said his one-story home was filled with 8 feet of water after

Katrina and needs to be gutted. While waiting for his insurance

payments, he's ripping out the walls himself.

" If I had the insurance, I could pay someone to do it, " said

Thursday. " But if you don't, you have to do it yourself. "

Construction worker Tito Pac, 25, of Atlanta, sought treatment at the

clinic for a bruised arm. He was helping move a kitchen cooler at a

closed hotel when his arm was crushed against a door.

" It's just a little sore, " he said, cradling the arm in a sling.

In the days after Katrina hit, there were dire predictions of disease

outbreaks from contaminated floodwaters, unsanitary living conditions

and mosquitoes breeding in the hot and humid coastal climate.

" The infectious disease risk was overblown, " said Dr. Pierre Buekens,

dean of Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical

Medicine. " But I think the mental health risk and the risk of accidents

was understated. "

He said Tulane researchers have found few mosquitoes in the city's

flooded areas, probably because breeding sites were blown away. And with

fewer cars, the air quality is better than before the storms, he said.

" Things are better than expected, " Buekens said.

Dr. Redd of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's

National Center for Environmental Health said exposure to the mold

flourishing in flooded buildings can pose health problems, especially

for those who have weakened immune systems or mold allergies.

Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, stuffy nose and skin rashes.

At the downtown clinic, Dr. DeBlieux said they're treating a lot

of people with those kinds of problems. But whether it's the mold, dust,

allergies or some other cause isn't known. There's also a lot of pollen

in the air because there hasn't been a heavy rainfall recently, he said.

" Everybody's calling it the 'Katrina cough,' " he said.

Sitting in the clinic's waiting room, Rose Howell, 21, of Detroit,

coughed repeatedly while waiting to see a dentist. She said she

developed the cough and a stuffy nose this week while helping a resident

pack up and move furniture from a house and storage area.

Ratard said he sees how dusty the city is each morning by the layer on

his car.

Except for the dust, he said, " There is nothing extraordinary in New

Orleans and the surrounding areas that are a major cause for concern. "

___

On the Net:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/

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