Multimedia Reporting (Fred-Musser)

Ingrid Bender awoke one night recently feeling nauseated and with a painful stomach ache. Moments later, she was bent over the toilet throwing up. The illness stayed with her for the next 24 hours during while she developed a headache, fever and the chills.

Bender, Shawnee senior, had viral gastroenteritis, often incorrectly referred to as the stomach flu even though it is not caused by influenza. There is no "cure" for the misery, medical officials at the University of Kansas say.

Episodes of viral gastroenteritis are most common this time of year, Dr. Patricia Denning, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said. She said the virus can spread easily across campus because people live in close quarters, such as dormitories, apartment complexes and houses.

“People spend more time in close contact with each other in a university setting with classes and group living and that poses a threat of an outbreak,” Denning said.

The good news, she added, is that the symptoms are short-lived, lasting one to three days. The symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, low-grade fever, headache and body aches.

Patty Quinlan, supervisor of nursing at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said students can treat the symptoms with at-home care.

“Clear liquids, soups and lots of rest are the best way to manage the symptoms since we don’t have any medications to get rid of the virus,” Quinlan said.

Quinlan, however, recommends certain medications to help patients deal with the symptoms of the virus. She said Imodium works for diarrhea, but needs to be kept on hand because once diarrhea strikes, it is difficult to leave the house. Dramamine, which is used for motion sickness, can be used for vomiting, she said..

Pat Hubbell, Hy-Vee pharmacy manager, also said he recommended medications to help alleviate some discomfort for his patients.

“We recommend Ibuprofen for the body aches because it reduces inflammation along with pain and also Maalox and Mylanta if somebody has a really sour stomach,” Hubbell said. He also said that these medications can be taken as soon as needed.

In some cases, medications won’t help with the symptoms. Quinlan said patients who you have been vomiting or had diarrhea more than three times in an hour need to contact a doctor.

Vomiting and diarrhea are strongest in the first 24 hours. Denning said to hold off on eating during this time, but to drink six to eight ounces of water each hour be taking small, frequent sips to prevent dehydration. Dehydration can be prevented by drinking enough fluids to replace the electrolytes lost during vomiting or diarrhea. Dehydration can be severe and even life threatening if not treated promptly.

Once the vomiting and diarrhea have stopped, Quinlan recommends drinking clear liquids for a good 12 hours and then moving into a bland diet the next day.

“If by day three, you haven’t had any additional vomiting or diarrhea, you can start your regular diet,” Quinlan said. “However, I would still stay away from spicy dishes for a good five days or so to avoid irritating the gastrointestinal track.”

Quinlan said that people are typically contagious for five to seven days after their first symptoms surface despite being exposed to the virus days before becoming ill.

To prevent the spread of viral gastroenteritis, Quinlan recommends that students do careful hand washing, cleanse areas they use to brush their teeth and prepare their meals, cover their mouth when they cough and their nose when they sneeze and then rewash their hands, and don’t share drinks, food or eating utensils with others.

“The virus is spread through spittle, so it is important to follow these precautions to prevent introducing it to your passage ways by touching your nose or mouth,” Quinlan said.

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With increased home heating prices and winter on its way, chimney sweeps are busy safe-guarding many Lawrence residents’ fireplaces and chimneys from potential dangers.

Dale Jones, owner of Soot & Ashes Chimney Sweeping in Carbondale, cleans, inspects and repairs chimneys in Lawrence, Topeka and the surrounding areas, and works on anywhere from one to five chimneys a day.

“The cooler it gets outside the busier I get because more people realize they need to get their chimney cleaned,” Jones said.

One of the more serious issues Jones encounters is a build up of the hazardous chemical, creosote.

“Creosote is a byproduct of burning wood and the smoke that goes up the flue turns to creosote as it cools. When it sticks to the walls of the chimney, it gets to be real dangerous,” Jones said.

Jones said when a fire is started in chimney with a large accumulation of creosote, it can spark chimney fires, which in turn can cause a house fire.

Fire officials recommend professional chimney inspections because people who don’t have their chimney cleaned run the risk of a fire.

“The key to chimney fire prevention is cleaning it annually. Inspections keep creosote build up down and the chimney intact without damages,” said Russell Brickell, fire prevention officer of the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical reported 51 chimney-related fires since 1998.

“Chimney fires happen a bit and mostly in the winter. Even though they don’t happen often, it is still important to have your chimney inspected,” Brickell said.

In a report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, it states that home-heating equipment is one of the most common causes of residential fires and account for about 21,600, or 60 percent, of 36,000 estimated fires a year.

Fireplace and chimneys are the leading source of home heating fires, according to the report. In 2005, it was reported that 74 percent of home fire deaths resulted from homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

Another danger of improperly cared for chimneys is carbon monoxide poisoning. Melissa Heeke, director of communications and marketing for the National Chimney Sweep Guild and the Chimney Safety Institute of America, said that when a chimney isn’t regularly maintained, carbon monoxide intrusion is more likely.

“The chimney is a way for carbon monoxide and other gases to escape,” she said. “If there is an obstruction, such as a bird’s nest, creosote build up, etc., it is more difficult for the CO to leave the home. When there are cracks in a chimney or the chimney is deteriorating, it is also more difficult for the gases to leave the house.”

To avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, the Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends having a chimney professional check for ventilation problems and installing carbon monoxide detectors to warn of harmful gases entering the home.

Jones said cracks are the most common problem he sees. He said that while it is possible for homeowners to clean their fireplaces and chimneys, trained chimney professionals know what problems to look for.

“They do it the proper way and look for any obvious problems-cracks, deterioration, etc. The homeowner doesn’t necessarily have that knowledge to know what they are looking for,” Jones said.

Jones charges $125 for a clean and an inspection together, however, the cost for repairs varies because it depends on the type of repair and what needs to be done to repair it.

Heeke compared having a professional inspecting your chimney to taking your car to a mechanic.

“It’s possible to work on your own car, but do you really know what you’re doing? Some things are better left to a qualified professional. Chimney maintenance is one of those,” Heeke said.

Kim Teichmann, customer of Soot & Ashes, said he considered cleaning his chimney, but opted to have a professional do it for him.

“My chimney was dirty and I know it can be a fire hazard,” he said. “Plus, I hadn’t used it in a few years.”

Heeke said the Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends fireplaces be cleaned when there is one-fourth inch of creosote present or sooner if there is any black glaze in the chimney system, and that it is important to get your chimney inspected before lighting the first fire.

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A KU professor has developed a guided missile approach to toxic cancer-killing drugs to malignant cells rather than throughout the body where they can cause painful side effects, like nausea and vomiting.

Dr. Teruna Siahaan’s, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry, target drug delivery method involves the linking of a cell-adhesion molecule to the anti-cancer drug.

“We have found a cell-adhesion molecule that we can bond with an anti-cancer drug to make a conjugate that will target cancerous white blood cells circulating through the blood stream; the cells will bind to the conjugate and engulf it,” Siahaan said.

The cancerous white blood cells have a specific receptor that is not found in other tissues. Siahaan targeted this receptor using a small cell-adhesion molecule, called peptide, in a mouse disease model. He attached the anti-cancer drug directly to the peptide outside of the body, and then injected the fastened pair into the blood stream of a mouse. The peptide acted as a homing device for the receptor found in the white blood cells. Once the peptide located the receptor, they bonded. Then, the receptor carried the peptide with the drug attached into the cancerous white blood cell and destroyed the cell.

“It’s just like a suicide basically when they engulf this targeting molecule with the toxic drug attached,” Siahaan said.

Siahaan used a drug that is known to have side effects. During chemotherapy, the drug wasn’t just being consumed by the white blood cell but also by other cells in the body. Siahaan said this procedure allowed them to direct the drug to only the white blood cell so that the effect the drug had on normal cells was minor.

“Our method will try to avoid killing the normal tissue and minimize the amount of the drug that goes to normal cells,” Siahaan said.

The study, which is funded by the National Institute of Health, started with Siahaan and his research group following a fluorescent molecule using a microscope. They found that this molecule internalizes into the white blood cell with the receptor.

“We say ‘hmmm’ the receptor goes inside the cell with this molecule; this is probably a good way of carrying a drug into a cancerous cell, specifically white blood cells since they only have this receptor,” Siahaan said.

Siahaan said it will be possible to use this procedure on humans and that the goal is to test it on either autoimmune disease patients or leukemia patients. However, he and his group are still looking at the detailed workings of this molecule before it goes to clinicals.

“We have to be safety conscious,” Siahaan said, since the drug he used has shown the potential of lowering the toxicity of chemotherapy treatments.

Eston Schwartz, doctor of hematology and oncology at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, said direct therapy at cancer cells is a great way to not only prevent cancer from spreading but allows patients to do what they want to do while they receive treatment.

“Patients always get sicker and sicker,” he said. “Direct treatment keeps them at work and at home with their kids.”

Dr. Schwartz said the goal is to treat patients and for them to remain functional.

Current chemotherapy medications attack the body decreasing patients’ blood counts and white blood cells and increasing their risk for infection. With infection, the side effects range from fatigue to blood transfusions, which can be deadly.

“A number of nasty things can happen with chemotherapy, like numbness in the fingers or in the toes,” Dr. Schwartz said. “Any advanced medications to help direct the drugs are an improvement and beneficial to the patients.”

Siahaan said that a realistic and optimistic prediction for the release of this procedure into the medical field would be four or five years.

Dr. Schwartz said he wishes that something could be done quicker since the approval process for procedures in development, like Siahaan's, is extensive.

“The sooner the better; that’s the way I look at it,” he said.

In the future, Siahaan said he plans to look at another molecule that could target pancreatic, prostate and lung cancers.

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