Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Bacteria

Hi I'm new here
I've heard of klebsiella & chlamydia being possible causes of AS inflammation, but has anyone ever had any experience of HIB which causes meningitis, as being a potential cause?
I was just told yesterday that I have a prolific growth of HIB, diagnosed by sputum sample.
When I searched on the net, I found a site that said that Alaskan Eskimos are prolific HIB carriers & that rang alarm bells, as I have also read that they have a high incidence of AS.
Anne in NZ
10 zillion miles away from Alaska

Hiya,

Not knowledgeable on HIB but I stopped my son having a live vacine for menigitis when I discovered it was a gram negative type bug, as he had symptons of Spondyloarthritis and I was worreid tat would trigger something worse.

Alot of the associated triggering infections in Reactive arhtritis which is so similar to AS are gram negative and chrons disease which is often coexisting disease with AS is linked in some cases to another gram negative bug which is a cattle form of TB.

What meds have you been on these often lead to opportunte infections getting a grip of us?

What ever the cause any infection in me always gives itself away as I get sore prior to any symptons it's then just a waiting game.

Welcome to KickAS!

David

Ps I hope they are sorting out the HIB infection pronto!

A search of PubMed yielded nothing.
Code:

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 "Haemophilus influenzae type b"[MeSH] AND "Spondylarthropathies" [MeSH] 

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Best regards,

jcwinnie



Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), formerly the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in the United States. Since the introduction of vaccines to prevent Hib disease around 1990, meningitis caused by Hib has decreased by 94%.

From WHO....The World Health Organisation

HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE
Haemophilus influenzae is a gram-negative coccobacillus.

source: http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/pink/hib.pdf

JC,

I was a very pro vaccine person, but I'm more cautious these days esp with the kids. Live vaccine with gram negatives get me a bit worried, this was a consquence of BCG vaccinations on the military which preceeded big flares and a worsening of the condition.

Some digging around on this, I found that when BCG vaacine is used to treat bladder tumours there's occurences of SpA like problems as well as something known as BCG'ítis.

David

Thanks Davo & JC


Here's my AS history (sorry to bore you). I always feel like a hyperchondriac when I talk about it.

I first got iritis sixteen years ago.

A year or so later I fractured my coccys whilst tramping in wet bush. Fell badly on it twice within an hour or so.

Twelve years ago, after giving birth to my son, all 10.5lbs of him, I started experiencing constant pain in my coccys. My Gynycologist at that time said that my coccus would have refractured during the birth, which I believed......duh!

I now know it was the start of AS.

The pain travelled up my spine, through my ribs etc until I suddenly got a very stiff neck approx 6 years ago, whilst out walking one day, along with a sharp pain in my butt.

Finally got iritis again approx 2 years ago & it was my eye specialist that recommended going to a rheumatologist to confirm AS.

Since then have been on Indomethecin only, which has made huge improvements to my life.

Have been on the starch free diet since April 2004 & have now started to cut out sugars as well as we've noticed that they were causing inflammation. It's when the back of my neck is inflammed at night that I often get a yucky green lump of phlegm in my throat the next morning. The indomethecin had stopped this from happening every day & I've noticed that it now only occurs if I eat starch or sugar.

I finally had it tested last week.

I reckon that I've probably been a HIB carrier for most of the AS time. So what's made it suddenly multiply. For the last three years or so I've felt that the AS was in my skull......e.g. Going to the ear specialist because I felt pressure on my ears.......hearing fine. Going to the dentist because I had toothache.......nothing wrong.

When I started taking the Indomethecin my skull started making cracking noises as the pressure in there reduced.

Plus I'm certain my memory has suffered.

Meningitis is inflammation of the menges in the skull, so could I have had a mild meningitis all along? And what has set off the flare-up now?

My family has the HLA-B27 gene & my aunt has chrons.

Am going to talk to my GP on Tuesday. In the meantime I'm on a coarse of antibiotics & my doctor's surgery keep ringing me up to see if I'm OK.

It was reading about the Alaskan Eskimos in relation to HIB that made me wonder if AS'ers are more prone to infection from any kind of bacteria & that it may not necessarily just be klebsiella. It could be all bacteria that cause reactive arthritis in some people.

I've also read that MRSA can cause cirrohisis (sp?) another associated condition, which adds weight to my thoughts.


Thanks for your support
Cheers Anne

Hiya,

Wondered if you had been on any of the immuno suprresants dmards etc. Havre had similar expereinces of pseudo problems for years berfoe getting a diagnosis, it all m akes alot of sense now.

My son has just taken off properly, with SpA. just spent the last few weeks with ear infections etc and it's back. He is a real trooper so you have to watch him he does not say much even when he can't move much.

Some of those noises you heard (skull) maybe the (pre)fusion in the soft tissue happening. I tried indy by complete accident (if I had known) and not trusted and that stuff blew my gut pretty bad.....

I get colitis as well (a sister of the SPA/AS) and just listening to a radio programme via the internet from the BBC, gram negatives are implicated there as well. Not one particular strain just the species and they way they interact. Apparently lipo sacharrides are secreted and are though to message each other and also by the mucous part of the mucous barrier defence.....and have to say that although chrons's is more a wider mucuous problem my experience of colitis is it affects everything.

www.bbc.co.uk, radio programs radio 4, gut reactions three programs....ibs, ibd and pre-pro biotics...


Are they going to try and get that infection down?

David

Hi David


Sorry my last post should have read psoriasis (not cirrohisis of the liver) They are totally different conditions.

It seems that psoriasis may be attributed to the MRSA bacteria.

I don't know what SpA is or what it stands for.


Thanks Anne

Hi,

SpA=Spondyloarthropathy the family that psorasis reactive Arthritis inflammatory bowel disease and uveitis/iritis and AS belongs to.

I'm not sure about Ps.....not something I have

David

Hi,

I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but having seen how I've flared after vaccinations and the longer term worsening of gut and joints well I'm not going to risk/repeat that on my son, so live and gram negatives ummmmhhhh sorry.

Of course what happens if he does get exposed to a serious bug which is protected by vaccination, that's a worry too. But with him in his current state no way, maybe later.

On vaccinations I reckon flu shots are worth it! Polio and some of the others a must....I'm not happy with the multiple mixes that they are handing out now, I reckon that alot of problems are due to the mixes as opposed to the individual vaccines, no proof but just reading between the lines and the odd expert opinion.

Why really upset the immune demon when you are just trying to prime it up?

David