CBRNE - T-2 Mycotoxins Follow-up

Author: Chan W Park, MD; Chief Editor: Robert G Darling, MD, FACEP more...

Updated: Jul 9, 2010

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Further Inpatient Care
Inpatient & Outpatient Medications
Complications
Prognosis
Patient Education
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Further Inpatient Care

In all suspected cases involving T-2 mycotoxin exposure, admission to the hospital is warranted. Supportive care should be instituted with particular attention to the prevention of superinfection. Depending on the time of exposure and the presenting symptoms, serial lymphocyte count may help identify patients who are immunocompromised.

Inpatient & Outpatient Medications

Although not proven clinically, a theoretical use exists for administering colony-stimulating factors to patients presenting with bone marrow suppression.

Complications

Airway compromise may be observed when the disease process includes significant airway edema or hemorrhage.

Prognosis

Prognosis of mycotoxin exposure is difficult to assess, since the amount of toxin in previous human ingestions has not been documented. Death from actual toxin ingestion is much less of a concern than the sequelae of immune compromise and successive infection. This is supported by the documented history of the ingestion version of the disease (ATA). No current literature predicts the outcome of T-2 mycotoxin poisoning.

Patient Education

For excellent patient education resources, visit eMedicine's Bioterrorism and Warfare Center. Also, see eMedicine's patient education articles Biological Warfare and Personal Protective Equipment.

Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Chan W Park, MD Attending Physician, Research Coordinator, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth

Chan W Park, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Kevin Scott Koehler, MD Resident Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Michael R Melia, MD Department of Emergency Medicine, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia

Michael R Melia, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Lanny F Littlejohn, MD Staff Emergency Physician and Medical Director for Tactical Combat Casualty Care, Department of Emergency Medicine, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia

Lanny F Littlejohn, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, Special Operations Medical Association, and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Thomas M Stein, MD, FACEP Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Pennsylvania-Hahnemann University; Medical Director, Emergency Medical Support Services and LifeFlight, Department of Emergency Medicine, Allegheny General Hospital

Thomas M Stein, MD, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, Association of Military Surgeons of the US, National Association of EMS Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Jerry L Mothershead, MD Medical Readiness Consultant, Medical Readiness and Response Group, Battelle Memorial Institute; Advisor, Technical Advisory Committee, Emergency Management Strategic Healthcare Group, Veteran's Health Administration; Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Jerry L Mothershead, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians and National Association of EMS Physicians

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine

Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

Rick Kulkarni, MD Assistant Professor of Surgery, Section of Emergency Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital

Rick Kulkarni, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: WebMD Salary Employment

John D Halamka, MD, MS Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Robert G Darling, MD, FACEP Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Military and Emergency Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F Edward Hebert School of Medicine; Associate Director, Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine

Robert G Darling, MD, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Telemedicine Association, and Association of Military Surgeons of the US

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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Chemical Terrorism Agents and Syndromes. Signs and symptoms. Chart courtesy of North Carolina Statewide Program for Infection Control and Epidemiology (SPICE), copyright University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, www.unc.edu/depts/spice/chemical.html.

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