SOS
Hi,
My mother, my daughter and I are being infected with an unknown
terrible micro-organism. We have become very sick and is suffering
serious pain. Doctors at the best hospitals in China cannot cure us;
they do not even know what illness it is. We love life. I also appreciate
the young life of my daughter with only five years old. I wish we can
defeat this rare disease. So now we are asking the world -- can anyone
help us?
This disease can be infected by directly contact of mucous membrane.
Its main symptoms are: hard itch and piercing pain in all body,
damage skin and mucous membrane. It is decreasing our immunity. I
earnestly hope the microbiologists or pathologists all over the world
can help to find out the cause of this disease. On the other hand, I
think this illness is worth to study and may lead to some new
discoveries.
This is exactly our last hope about the illness of our family. I deeply
hope you can give your diagnosis or comments on this strange disease.
I hope you can help us to check out the pathogen in laboratory. I am
ready to ship lab samples to you by World-wide Express Mail Service
or come to your country if necessary.
If anyone has heard of patients with similar symptoms -- or have any
ideas as to what this illness could be, please contact me. Your e-mail
will be passed to me by my friends at the Hong Kong Polytechnic
University who are being disparate to help us.
If you find you cannot help our family directly, please help us to
distribute the following letter to microbiologists or pathologists all
over the world. Your kind help may save our lifes.
Thank you very much.
Our e-mail address: eewnfu at hkpucc.polyu.edu.hk
Li Hongliu
11, Dec. 1995
My address:
Ms. Li Hong Liu (through Mr. Li Wei Hua)
Retirement Office (Li Tui Ban)
Dong Ting Nitrogenous Fertiliser Factory
(Dong-Ting Dan-Fei Chang)
Yue Yang 414003
Hu Nan Province
P. R. China
Tel: 86 730 8511 539
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A Letter to Microbiologists and Pathologists all Over the World
Dear Respected and Beloved Microbiologists and Pathologists all Over
the World:
I deeply wish you can bring a gleam of hope to my mother, my
daughter and me. I look forward to your deep insight, to identify the
seldom seen micro-organism we are being infected. I hope you can
help us.
My name is Li Hongliu, female, 33 years old. I am a teacher at
Shanghai Electric Power Institute, Shanghai, China. In Oct. 1994,
because of external contamination, I was infected by a terrible micro-
organism. At first genitourinary organs were infected suddenly. The
amount of leucorrhoea increased quickly. The colour was grey, and
the quality was thick. The urogenital had pain. Pudendalis and analis
had slight itch. Generally all body including ear, nose, throat, eyes,
tongue, scalp, skin and muscle had hard itch and piercing pain,
accompanying intermittence flee pain and pressing pain on bones in
all body. A lot of red macula and pigmented mole produced,
disappeared, repeatedly, on the surface of the skin. The piercing pain
has developed from the skin surface into the deepness of the skin,
muscle, bones and internal organs generally. Since we are infected
this disease, the amount of leucorrhoea increases, its colour is still
grey. Urinate is often muddy. Sometimes it contains skin-like
excretion mixed with blood.
When this illness first happened, I was checked by the department of
gynaecology at famous Shanghai Chang Hai Hospital, China. No
fungus and trichomonas were discovered in the laboratory. But
doctors said it looked like the infection of fungus because of the
thickness of leucorrhoea. But the followed therapy had no effect.
Afterwards, my leucorrhoea were cultured at some big hospitals as
Shanghai Rui Jin Hospital and Shanghai Hua Shan Hospital, no
fungus and other pathogens were checked out.
The terrible thing is that this micro-organism has fairly strong
contagious by the contact of mucous membrane. In Feb. 1995 I came
back my parent's home (at another province) to spend spring festival,
my daughter and my mother were then infected in succession. They
were infected from the eyes by using the same towel. The first
symptom was the gum in the eyes increased, the eyes had slight
urtication, occasionally had pain. Because the early symptom of this
illness was slight and intermittent, this did not cause my mother's
attention. Hereafter, the illness developed to all body. The outer
pudendum mucous membrane and anus of my mother and my
daughter were all infected. My daughter often said she had itch in
pudendalis area and used hand to scratch.
Before this illness, no one in our whole family suffered skin illness,
gynaecology illness, hereditary illness and autoimmune illness. Our
health conditions were very good, no disease in genitourinary organs
and kidney. We were also born a delicate skin. But after suffered this
illness, the skin of all body of us becomes very dry and coarse. The
colour of skin becomes yellow and black apparently. The amount and
depth of the striae on skin increase apparently. At the places of skin
that have hard itch and piercing pain, a lot of brown and red
abnormal pigmentary deposits are produced. Black hair becomes
withered and the gloss is lost.
My father and mother all graduated from medical university, took
doctors as profession more than 30 years (They have retired). They
never saw such chronic disease beforehand. And I have been checked
by a lot of big hospitals in Shanghai many times, they discovered
nothing. This means that this disease can not be checked out by
general method. It may be caused greatly by a new pathogen that still
does not be discovered in modern medicine. It is usually ignored by
people. This is because the early symptoms of this disease are slight
and non-specific. Only the infected position has intermittent itch and
piercing pain. Then generally, slowly and periodically it develops to
all body. It can cause sweat at day and night, decrease immunity. And
within a short time it looks as if it'll not kill the life. The
possibility of
the infection of this disease is less than hepatitis, as it cannot be
infected by food and air. It may not become epidemic. So it is ignored
by physician. But when the state of the illness becomes serious, the
patient is very painful. When I see my clever and lovely daughter
scratches here and there all day, cannot go to sleep at night, cry
because of the serious flee pain in muscle and bone, the delicate skin
becomes black and develops abnormal pigmentary deposits, all hair
becomes withered and loses its gloss, I am really very sad. This will
affect her normal growth.
I have used the medicines of antibiotics (minocycline hydrochloride
21d, roxithromycin 7d, azithromycin 6d, anti-fungals (sporanox i.e.
itraconazole 14d) and metronidazole, they all have no effects.
Since this disease can infect other people, the pathogen will excrete
out of human body through leucorrhoea, menstruation or urine.
According to today's high developed science and technology, if good
experiment equipment is available, some microbiologists and the
specialists who familiar with the structure under skin and familiar
with experiments are organised, some experiments are carefully
designed, I think the pathogen can be certainly checked out by micro-
organism cultivation. I am sure other people can also infected by this
eason why it still does not be
discovered is because the symptoms are non-specific, intermittent. So
it is often mis-diagnosed as autonomic disorder, neurodermatitis, and
so on. The patients have to suffer this illness.
I earnestly hope you believe me. I also obtained Master degree in
science and prepare to study for PhD. Because infected this terrible
micro-organism, and the illness of my lovely daughter and my
mother, I cannot have my wish fulfilled. Seeing the hard time of my
daughter, I still cannot find the door of doctors. I have no alternative
but earnestly request you can stretch out your hand -- rescue my five
year's daughter! No matter where you are, I am willing to go there, to
provide specimen for research study.
Expecting your reply.
Yours sincerely
Li Hongliu
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Appendix 1: The Opinions and Personal Experience of Me and My
Mother
by Ms. Li Hongliu
(1) This pathogen has fairly strong infectivity by the contact of mucous
membrane although it seems it cannot be infected by food and air. One
day after I was infected in the vulva and anus, because the light was
out of order, I used the towel which should be used as washing
pudendalis to wash face by mistake. Very soon my eyes were affected.
The eyes had itch and piercing pain. The gum in the eyes increased a
lot. My daughter and my mother were all infected from eyes.
(2) It seems that the pathogen is willing to injure the tissue under the
surface of skin. It looks as if it absorbs nutriment. My mother and I
all feel the kind of itch and pain that is like a line going through,
then
the skin at this position will keep itch several days, until this skin
becomes dry, trichopores become large, pigmentation appears. Then
this feeling will move to other places, the same phenomenon repeats.
After a period of time, on the damaged skin, the same damage will
repeat. The repeated damage makes the skin more and more coarse,
trichopores become large. At last it will lead to the situation that all
skin becomes coarse, yellow and black.
(3) After the pathogen produces hard itch and piercing pain on this
surface of skin, the macula is produced. It is non-specific. The spot is
like to yellowish-brown, black, or is like to red pigmented mole. The
measles is like to folliculitis, or like to old man's spot. This may be
explained that the activity of the pathogen under the skin produces
some toxin, which causes the blood under the skin does not flow, the
nutritional condition of the skin becomes bad, then it leads to the
different kind of macula. Within recent six months, a lot of macula
and skin striae have developed. The purpura often produced on the
skin may be because the activity of the pathogen hurts the capillary.
The purpura has no pressing pain. It is not caused by collision. It can
disappear automatically. The red spots on the skin may be an allergic
reaction to this pathogen and its toxin. After infected this disease, the
blood vessel and capillary on the skin become appearance. It is
significant on the skin of my daughter and me. At some places the
capillary cannot be seen beforehand, but if this place has itch, after
some time, gradually the capillary can be seen.
(4) The pathogen likes to injure the places where have hair, such as
the skin on the top of head, pudenda, armpit, eyebrow, eyelid, fine
hair, and so on. When it first injures the skin on the top of head,
scraps increase, the head had itch and pain, macula similar to
folliculitis is produced, The hair quickly becomes withered. The
process at the pubes is similar to this. When the disease injures
eyebrow, scraps produce. The skin also has many scraps. My mother,
my daughter and I all have the same symptom.
(5) After infected this disease, we are often afraid of cold for some
time. Sometimes we are flustered and have palpitation, feel no
strength. Secret anguish happens in the deep of the body. Sometimes
this micro-organism injures the nose and causes the nose holes
clogged, breath is difficult. This often happens at night. My daughter
often uses the mouse to take breath. I also have such condition.
(6) When menstruation comes every time, the pathogen actives
frequently at reproduction organs, anus and abdomen. It makes
reproduction organs, pudendalis and anus hard itch, piercing pain and
flee pain. The abdomen has strong fee pain. The skin around the anus
is often damaged automatically. Other place such as ear and knee also
have such phenomena. Before damaged, the skin will have itch or feel
fired.
(7) I do not know whether this pathogen produces some materials.
Because I can often feel a small hard material under skin. Sometimes
this hard material will be absorbed. Sometimes it will become a
macula. This makes the smooth skin has a swelling. Sometimes the
macula will break when it grows up. The light-grey secretion squeezed
out from the macula has rotten smell. When it injures the breasts and
muscle of upper legs, the breasts become large and hard apparently,
and muscle of legs also becomes hard and its circle becomes large.
(8) In April 1995, I took a bottle of very muddy urinate to a hospital
for checking. A young physician though it was chyluria by mistake.
(Actually it was not chyluria. Because it had been put several hours,
the urinate was apparently separated layer by layer. This was also
verified by the experiment afterwards.) Then the blood is checked for
filariasis. Under microscopy a white live worm like earthworm in the
blood was found. It was not dyed. The ratio of width and length of the
worm is 1:30. First doctors said this was filariasis. But I had no effect
using the medicine for filariasis. Then I asked specialists who specially
study parasite at the Dept. of parasitology, Shanghai Second Army
Medical University and specialists who specially study filariasis at
Shanghai Parasite Institute, they all thought it was not filariasis, it
was
a mis-diagnosis. Their reasons were: (a) filariasis disease is infected
by
mosquito. In Shanghai filariasis was extinct a long time ago. I always
stayed at city and had no opportunity bite by the mosquito carried
filariasis. (b) The blood used for checking was from 1ein and was
processed by centrifugal method. So the filariasis was certainly died, it
could not flee forward. (c) If it was filariasis, at least several
filariasis
worms could be seen. It was impossible that only one worm was seen.
But the examine doctor and other four laboratory technicians
presented that day all exactly saw this live worm. What was it? The
possibility of contamination during the experiment is very little. So it
is still a puzzle. Is there any possibility that the illness is caused by
other very tiny "worm"?
(9) This pathogen seems has several states. Different state can cause
different damage on the skin. After infected this disease, besides the
macula and ageing, sometimes a mark or scar left by a sharp material
on skin will appears. Before the mark appears, the skin has slight
pain. I have this kind of mark on face, neck and the back of hand
finger many times. My daughter had a such mark (long 8 cm) on the
inner part of lower leg a few days ago. Recently it appears on her face.
My mother has this mark similar to a line on nose, wrist and chest.
(10) With the development of this disease, I have intermittence strong
flee pain at the position of liver and between ribs. The piercing pains
and lasting pains in the waist and abdomen often make me no ability
to stand up at once. I am flustered and have palpitation, feel no
strength. My daughter, my mother and I all have intermittent
headache and bone pain. In May 1995, the laboratory test results of my
liver function, renal function, electroencephalogram(EEG) and
electrocardiogram are all normal. But the rhythm of the heart
increased from 62 times/min (before infected this disease) to 80
timesys
said my heart like that of athlete, which beat slowly and powerful.
To sum up, after this pathogen infects human body, it first injures the
mucous membrane, skin and the tissue under the skin. The change on
the skin is visible. But it causes what kind of damage to the tissue
under the skin is still necessary to study. With the state of the illness
becoming heavy, all head to face of us feels compressive, like put on a
tight cap. Generally the back of the body, the chest, etc. have the same
feeling. Recently my daughter also cry because her right leg feels not
comfortable, like tighten by something.
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Appendix 2: Some Results of Laboratory Tests
(1) Erythrocyte sedimentation rate: 35mm/h
(2) Anti "O": normal.
(3) Rheumatoid factors: normal.
(4) Antinuclear antibody: normal
(5) Immunoblobulin IgG 17.9 (normal value: 6-15g/L)
IgA 2.23 (0.85-3.00g/L)
IgM 2.24 (0.5-2.5g/L)
(6) Circulating immune complex (CIC) 0.1 (<6.5)
(7) Protein electrophoresis Albumin 53.6
Alpha 1 1.7
Alpha 2 10.4
Beta 10.8
Gamma 23.4
A/G 1.16
(8) T lymphocyte transformation 190.5 (200-500SI)
(9) Natural killer cell: 33.8 (45-60)
(10) T cell subpopulations CD3 61.0 (62-74%)
CD4 41.0 (42-55%)
CD8 30.0 (18-30%)
CD4/CD8 1.37
(1.57-2.50)
(11) Total E-rosette formation count 28 (40-70%)
(12) Active E-rosette formation 15 (20-30%)
(13) 24 hour urinate creatine 26.0 mg%
(14) Eosinophile count 120 (50-300´106/L)
(15) Anti ds-DNA 5.0 (<30%)
Anti ss-DNA 4.5 (<30%)
(16) Complements C3 0.85 (0.8-1.7g/L)
(17) By brain electric picture, q activity with short distance
and middle scope can be seen in two foreheads.
(18) MRI: normal
(19) Creatine phosphokinase(CK) 63 (<160U/L)
Lactic acid dohydrogenase(LDH) 115 (70-160U/L)
(20) Isoenzymos of LDH LDH1 33.8 (10.9-35.3%)
LDH2 31.2 (23.8-49.8%)
LDH3 21.3 (16.9-33.3%)
LDH4 8.0 (0-17.9%)
LDH5 5.7 (0-13%)
(21) Asparate aminotransferase(AST) 23 (<50 U/L)
(22) g-glutamyl transferase(g-GT) 103 (2-40 U/L)
(23) Liver function : normal
(24) Renal function: normal
(25) Electrocardiogram: normal
