Anthrax Exposure

Per NBC News, “More than 80 people may have been exposed to airborne anthrax bacteria in an embarrassing mishap at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and the numbers may go even higher, officials said Friday.

“Right now we have an excess of 80 individuals,” CDC deputy director Dr. Ileana Arias told NBC News. “We expect that number may even grow … because we’re trying to make that available to as many people as possible in order to make sure there are no adverse consequences to health of any of our employees as a result of what happened.”

Not good.  A breach in protocol has endangered the lives of at least 80 people.  I’m sure that the people exposed are terrified.  I’m sure that they’re willing to take whatever antibiotic they are given to either treat or prevent an anthrax infection.

Cipro will likely be given to many of them.

This is the comment that I’m making on any news source article I see on the topic –

I’m betting that a good portion of these scientists will get “floxed.” Floxed is a short-hand term for fluoroquinolone toxicity syndrome – a severe adverse reaction to a fluoroquinolone antibiotic – cipro/ciprofloxacin, levaquin/levofloxacin, avelox/moxifloxacin and floxin/ofloxacin. Cipro is getting pushed HARD as a treatment. Cipro and all of the other fluoroquinolones cause severe cellular damage through disruption of the mitochondrial DNA replication process, dramatic increases in oxidative stress, lipid disruptions and depleting vital intercellular enzymes.

Doxycycline can also treat anthrax. It’s pretty benign. Doxy is a bacteriostatic antibiotic and Cipro is a bactericidal antibiotic. Bactericidal antibiotics damage mitochondria.

Saying that you can either take Doxy or Cipro is kind of like saying that, in order to wake up in the morning you can drink coffee or shoot meth. Sure, both will wake you up, but one has significantly fewer consequences than the other.

I hope that the people exposed look at the 43 page warning label for Cipro and demand something else.

Getting floxed isn’t fun. Adverse effects like peripheral neuropathy, severe anxiety, insomnia, weakening of every tendon in the body, etc. can be permanent.

Perhaps some people will see this post too.  Feel free to copy and paste what I wrote anywhere.

Here are the articles that should be read:

Science Translational Medicine, “Bactericidal Antibiotics Induce Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Damage in Mammalian Cells“

Journal of Young Pharmacists, “Oxidative Stress Induced by Fluoroquinolones on Treatment for Complicated Urinary Tract Infections in Indian Patients“

Cipro Warning Label

Mechanism of action for Cipro, per the warning label:

Mechanism of Action
The bactericidal action of ciprofloxacin results from inhibition of the enzymes topoisomerase II (DNA
gyrase) and topoisomerase IV (both Type II topoisomerases), which are required for bacterial DNA
replication, transcription, repair, and recombination.

Mitochondria are ancient relatives of bacteria.  Fluoroquinolones disrupt enzymes and DNA replication in mitochondria as well as in bacteria.

I wish all of the people exposed to anthrax the best of luck.  I’m here if you need me.