SharkDivingDiva
Hatching
- May 13, 2015
- 7
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- 7
Please take this warning seriously! If you are taking Remicade, Humira, or other biologic drugs that warn about certain fungal infections, please DO NOT CLEAN THE CHICKEN COOP YOURSELF! And minimize your contact with their droppings!
I was on Remicade and thus my immune system was suppressed, and did not realize that histoplasmosis, a fungus that causes a potentially fatal disease in people with suppressed immune systems, grows in chicken poop. My soon-to-be-ex-husband and I got backyard chickens May 2014. I got sick in September 2014, and the histoplasmosis infection finally got bad enough that they could diagnose it in May 2015. If my doctor had not insisted on hospitalizing me, I might not have gotten the treatment I needed, and I could have died!
Please, if you are on Remicade, Humira, or any similar drugs, if you develop a fever, see your doctor immediately. Tell him/her that you have backyard chickens, and may have picked up histoplasmosis. They may have to test a few times, and do multiple CT scans a few months apart. My first CT scan in October 2014 was completely normal, by May 2015 I had spots on my spleen and lungs, and some evidence of it in my intestines.
Please take this seriously, if you are immunosuppressed for any reason, medication or disease, stay away from the chicken poo!
I was on Remicade and thus my immune system was suppressed, and did not realize that histoplasmosis, a fungus that causes a potentially fatal disease in people with suppressed immune systems, grows in chicken poop. My soon-to-be-ex-husband and I got backyard chickens May 2014. I got sick in September 2014, and the histoplasmosis infection finally got bad enough that they could diagnose it in May 2015. If my doctor had not insisted on hospitalizing me, I might not have gotten the treatment I needed, and I could have died!
Please, if you are on Remicade, Humira, or any similar drugs, if you develop a fever, see your doctor immediately. Tell him/her that you have backyard chickens, and may have picked up histoplasmosis. They may have to test a few times, and do multiple CT scans a few months apart. My first CT scan in October 2014 was completely normal, by May 2015 I had spots on my spleen and lungs, and some evidence of it in my intestines.
Please take this seriously, if you are immunosuppressed for any reason, medication or disease, stay away from the chicken poo!