48 Hours - CBS ON BACTERIOPHAGES
48 Hours; Dan Rather, Susan Spencer, Erin
Moriarty, Peter Van Sant
48 Hours (CBS)
Environment> DAN RATHER, CBS ANCHOR: I`m Dan Rather.
A simple infection leads to a potentially life-threatening
illness.
Investigating "Silent Killers", 48 HOURS right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: What happened to Bobbie has
probably happened to you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a paper cut.
ANNOUNCER: But her cut led to a drug-resistant infection that`s
put her life at risk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bug that was in there was eating these
antibiotics for breakfast.
ANNOUNCER: Alfred`s foot infection wouldn`t respond to drugs.
SUSAN SPENCER, CBS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): What sort of
options were the doctors presenting you with?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amputation.
ANNOUNCER: Then, he heard about an alternative treatment in the
most unlikely place...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had no electrical power and no water.
ANNOUNCER: ... the former
SPENCER: This strikes me as fairly low-tech. Do you use these
more than once?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ANNOUNCER: Can this old technology provide new hope?
Susan Spencer investigates.
Plus: It`s a potentially fatal disease that targets college
kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I have seen young people come in with a
sore throat and be dead within 24 hours.
ANNOUNCER: John was a rising star who fell fast.
PETER VAN SANT, CBS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): John, just how
close were you to dying?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As close as you can get.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember falling to my knees, saying,
`My God, what`s happening. What`s wrong?` ANNOUNCER: But there`s a simple
vaccine that can protect your child.
Peter Van Sant with a story every parent must see. What you
need to know about these growing threats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And people are dying. More and more people
are dying.
ANNOUNCER: "Silent Killers." (END VIDEO CLIP) RATHER:
It seems incredible to think that something as common as a paper cut could
somehow turn into a life-threatening condition, but it`s an indication of just
how vulnerable we can be.
Good evening.
Not so long ago, it seemed modern medicine might actually
eliminate the threat of infectious disease. Not so fast. Instead, our
microscopic enemies, in the form of viruses and bacteria, are suddenly on the
march again -- potential "Silent Killers" in the air, water and food.
One especially notable example: the
Tonight, some of the newest risks we`re all facing that we
can`t even see. We start with Susan Spencer and one mind-boggling case, and a
search for answers that leads halfway around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BOBBIE MACKEON, NURSE PRACTITIONER: Sit.
SPENCER (voice-over): Two years ago, Bobbie Mackeon experienced
an incredibly trivial event.
MACKEON: I got a paper cut.
SPENCER (on camera): Literally, just a paper cut.
MACKEON: Yes.
SPENCER: Deep?
MACKEON: Not that deep. And I was like, `Son of a gun.` SPENCER
(voice-over): Just a paper cut.
MACKEON: You know, I washed the hands and held a little
pressure on it. It stopped bleeding, and I thought, `OK.` SPENCER: But it got
infected.
MACKEON: And then, this part of the finger got red and swollen.
Good boy!
SPENCER: Bobbie, a nurse practitioner, spoke with the doctors
at her hospital, and they all figured an antibiotic would take care of it. It
didn`t.
MACKEON: Three or four days later, it should have been looking
a lot better, but it was looking worse.
SPENCER: Nor did the next two antibiotics she tried.
(on camera): This is a paper cut!
MACKEON: I know!
SPENCER: How is this possible?
MACKEON: Oh, resistant bacteria. The bug that was in there was
eating these antibiotics for breakfast.
The IV line went in here.
SPENCER (voice-over): With her infection still raging, Bobbie
turned to an intravenous antibiotic, which finally did help. But complications
then led to potentially fatal blood clots.
MACKEON: And the blood clot was about four inches across, and
it had little bubbles around it, which told us it was infected.
SPENCER: Clots so severe that her life now depends on high
doses of blood thinners, and that creates new problems.
MACKEON: If I fall or hit my head or get a cut, it can be life-
threatening.
SPENCER (on camera): So, you feel like you`re sort of walking
on eggshells.
MACKEON: Yes.
SPENCER (voice-over): So, instead of running, like she used to,
Bobbie works out ever so carefully in her garage.
MACKEON: So, I don`t want to get heart disease, because they
can`t fix it. I can`t have any surgeries.
SPENCER: That a tiny infection could spiral into a
life-threatening condition hardly surprises Michael Shnayerson or Mark Plotkin.
MARK PLOTKIN, CO-AUTHOR, "THE KILLERS WITHIN": I
would say that the bad news is the bad bugs are getting badder faster. They`re
getting stronger faster.
SPENCER: In their new book, "The Killers Within,"
they explore why antibiotics just don`t work like they used to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scientists are manufacturing this wonder
drug in enormous quantities.
SPENCER: Shnayerson warns: MICHAEL SHNAYERSON, CO-AUTHOR,
"THE KILLERS WITHIN": We no longer live in a time when antibiotics
work 100 percent of the time, and, in fact, there are some bugs that are
resistant to all of the antibiotics used against them. And people are dying.
More and more people are dying.
SPENCER: Even the common staph infections, once easily cured,
now can kill. And we`re all to blame. Like all living things, bacteria adapt to
their environment. Faced with an antibiotic, a few hearty bugs survive.
Those "superbugs" then multiply, creating a new
strain that the old antibiotic can`t touch.
SHNAYERSON: They are the ultimate Darwinian survivors.
SPENCER: The more antibiotics, the more the crafty critters
evolve.
And for five decades, we`ve been using gobs of these drugs.
SHNAYERSON: Too many doctors still feel that antibiotics
basically do no harm, and that it`s better to give them than not.
SPENCER: Plus, patients demand them, even for colds, which are
viral infections against which antibiotics are useless.
And adding to overuse is agriculture. Farmers use antibiotics
in feed, mostly to make the animals grow a little faster.
PLOTKIN: A recent study estimates that 70 percent of all
antibiotic use in this country is used in farms.
DAVID WITT, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: Indeed, I think
we`re looking at the end of the antibiotic era if we don`t start changing our
behavior.
SPENCER: Bobbie Mackeon`s colleague, Dr. David Witt, is an
infectious disease specialist at Kaiser Permanente in California. He is also
worried.
WITT: For 50 years, these were miracle drugs. They ended the
major causes of death of our parents, and we thought we`d always stay a step
ahead.
SPENCER: But now, the superbugs, which first only showed up in
hospitals, are turning up everywhere.
WITT: And for the first time, we`re seeing resistance among
very common bacteria that we`ve really not seen before.
SPENCER: Most chilling, Witt says, is the rising rate of
resistance in one very common bug: pneumococcus.
WITT: And this is a bacteria that causes most cases of
pneumonia, most cases of ear infections, most cases of sinusitis.
SPENCER (on camera): Everybody gets something like that.
WITT: Everybody gets them. All of your kids have had them.
GAIL MULLIN, HOLLIE MULLIN`S MOTHER: Big girl!
SPENCER (voice-over): When Gail Mullin`s
three-and-a-half-week-old daughter, Hollie, got her first ear infection...
MULLIN: Oh, my goodness!
SPENCER: ... Gail, like many mothers, told the doctor just what
she wanted.
MULLIN: Her ear is pink, she`s crying. So, if antibiotics can
possibly solve the problem, let`s go ahead and give them to her, and he did.
Tell me all about it.
SPENCER: But more infections followed.
MULLIN: Oh, my goodness!
Hollie must have been about three months old there, and that
was a pretty common face for Hollie at that age.
SPENCER (on camera): Oh, really?
MULLIN: Poor thing.
SPENCER (voice-over): And the antibiotics kept coming.
(on camera): Amoxicillin, augmentin, zithromax, receptin...
(voice-over): Seventeen different courses in one year.
MULLIN: Seven hats. Count, one, two, three...
SPENCER: By the time Hollie was 18 months old, she had
developed a bacteria resistant to every oral antibiotic available.
MULLIN: I mean it was just like -- it just slapped me in the
face.
SPENCER: Her only hope was a drug called Vancomycin, a potent
antibiotic given intravenously.
MULLIN: And they had to surgically put it in, and it went from
the crook of her arm into her chest cavity.
SPENCER: And the doctor was brutally honest. He told her:
MULLIN: "This is it; this is all we have left. We don`t have any other
options for her." So, you know, we knew at that time things were critical.
SPENCER: Vancomycin did work. Hollie Mullin was lucky.
(on camera): Did it make you better? And how are your ears now?
HOLLIE MULLIN: Fine.
SPENCER: There they are.
(voice-over): And her parents learned a tough lesson.
MULLIN: By giving Hollie as many antibiotics as we did, by the
time she was 1 year old, we created a superbug. We created a bacteria in her
system that couldn`t be beat.
SPENCER: It was Vancomycin that saved nurse Bobbie Mackeon as
well, but now, she struggles with that blood clot.
(on camera): The major vein from your left shoulder to the
middle of your chest...
MACKEON: Is gone.
SPENCER: Is gone.
MACKEON: Yes.
SPENCER (voice-over): Despite valiant efforts to regain her
health, Bobbie has been unable to work for much of the past two years.
WITT: Bobbie`s case is a good example of the worst-case
scenario.
SPENCER: And Dr. Witt expects to see many more such cases...
WITT: We probably need to look into this a bit more.
SPENCER: ... which is why he carefully checks and rechecks
every antibiotic ordered at the hospital.
WITT: I don`t want to give the wrong impression. I love
antibiotics.
They are life-saving. They are miracles, and I want to save
them for when we need them.
SPENCER (on camera): There is some good news. A new study finds
that doctors are ordering fewer antibiotics for children, but experts estimate
that there still are tens of millions of unnecessary prescriptions being
written each year, and the superbugs already are out there.
(voice-over): Now, even Vancomycin, that drug of last resort,
is losing its punch.
(on camera): So, the idea that we potentially could lose
antibiotics as a weapon...
WITT: Is chilling. It`s something that must be prevented.
SPENCER (voice-over): But could there be alternatives to
antibiotics?
(on camera): So, you put the phage in there, and the bacteria
is simply gone.
MZIA KUTATELADZE, ELIAVA INSTITUTE: Yes, yes, after three or
four hours.
SPENCER: Wow!
SPENCER (voice-over): Next: How old technology from the former
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SPENCER
(voice-over): After breaking his foot five years ago, Toronto bass player
Alfred Gertler got an infection that antibiotics couldn`t cure, and thought he
might be playing the blues forever.
(on camera): What sort of options were the doctors presenting
you with?
ALFRED GERTLER, MUSICIAN: Amputation.
SPENCER: Ouch.
(voice-over): But then, he read about a radically different way
to treat infections. Just one catch: it was in the former Soviet Republic of
Georgia, half a world away, at the Eliava Institute.
GERTLER: It was very strange, but it seemed like a lifeline,
and I wanted to live. I wanted to get up and work again.
SPENCER: He went.
GERTLER: I mean, they had no heat, no electrical power and no
water for much of the day.
SPENCER: What Eliava did have was treatment that worked.
(on camera): They literally took this stuff and poured it in
the wound.
GERTLER: Yes. And within three days, the infection was totally
gone.
SPENCER: The "stuff" they use here at the Eliava
Institute is called "bacteriophage," or "phage" as some
say it. Regardless of how you pronounce it, the researchers here are absolutely
convinced that phages are a fine natural alternative to antibiotics. Why?
Because these harmless little viruses have only one purpose in life: to eat the
bacteria that cause infection.
SHNAYERSON: A miracle apparently of nature is that there seems
to be a bacteriophage for every
kind of bacteria.
SPENCER (voice-over): And, say the authors of "The Killers
Within," these viruses may work when antibiotics fail.
PLOTKIN: Given the fix that we`re in with the rise of
resistance, we need to look at other approaches, and phage is just one of
several.
SPENCER: This approach is nothing new at Eliava, where they have
been making phage medication for more than 60 years. Using techniques that
hardly are cutting-edge, they isolate bacteria, and then search for the
specific phages that kill them.
(on camera): So, you have put bacteria on this dish, and then
dropped...
KUTATELADZE: Yes, the phage.
SPENCER: ... phages on it.
KUTATELADZE: Yes.
SPENCER: And...
KUTATELADZE: The clear zones are phage.
SPENCER: Which means it`s just wiped out the bacteria.
KUTATELADZE: Yes.
SPENCER (voice-over): Mzia Kutateladze is a senior scientist at
the institute.
(on camera): OK, so the cloudy stuff is...
KUTATELADZE: Bacteria salmonella.
SPENCER: So, you put the phage in there, and the bacteria is
simply gone.
KUTATELADZE: Yes, yes, after three or four hours.
SPENCER: Wow!
(voice-over): In local hospitals, doctors use phages to treat
wounds; in clinics, to treat throat infections. For burns, there is phage bio-
derm, artificial skin with time-release medication.
(on camera): So, if I go into a pharmacy in
KUTATELADZE: Yes.
SPENCER: ... I can now buy phage treatment.
KUTATELADZE: Yes, you can.
SPENCER: And this is just accepted. Everybody knows what this
is, and it`s...
KUTATELADZE: Yes, everybody knows, and it`s just a standard
part of health care.
SPENCER: No big deal.
KUTATELADZE: No.
So, this is the ampules for pure phage.
SPENCER (voice-over): The price is no big deal either.
KUTATELADZE: $2.50.
SPENCER (on camera): About $2.50.
KUTATELADZE: For ten -- ten ampules.
SPENCER: For ten?
KUTATELADZE: Yes.
SPENCER: So, if I had a staph infection, I would need one box,
so that would be $2.50?
KUTATELADZE: Yes, it`s very cheap in comparison to antibiotics.
SPENCER: That`s amazing.
KUTATELADZE: Yes.
SPENCER: But if phages really are all that great, why aren`t
doctors in the
UNIDENTIFIED MALE:
BETTY KUTTER, MICROBIOLOGY PROFESSOR,
SPENCER (voice-over): Betty Kutter, a microbiology professor
from
KUTTER: So, this one is sensitive.
SPENCER: She hopes to convince others that using a naturally-
occurring virus to fight an infection is a fine idea.
KUTTER: These are viruses that absolutely cannot infect human
cells or animal cells or plant cells.
SPENCER (on camera): No chance of getting sick from the
treatment.
KUTTER: No chance of getting sick from the treatment. The only
kinds of cells they can infect are bacterial cells.
Here is Alfred.
SPENCER (voice-over): It was Kutter who brought a desperate
Alfred Gertler here.
(on camera): In all honesty, where do you think Alfred Gertler
would be today if he had not come here?
KUTTER: He would not have a foot.
GERTLER: Oh, yes, I`m so lucky.
SPENCER (voice-over): Despite Alfred`s happy outcome...
GERTLER: It turned out great. They did what they promised to
do.
SPENCER: ... his treatment would be off-limits in
(on camera): This, for example, this strikes me as fairly
low-tech.
KUTATELADZE: Yes, yes, it`s very old really.
SPENCER: That`s pretty old?
KUTATELADZE: Yes.
SPENCER: You use those more than once?
KUTATELADZE: Yes, we sterilize it several times.
SPENCER (voice-over): And consider where phages are found.
KUTATELADZE: We isolate the new phage clones from sewage. Yes,
it`s not a very clean place...
SPENCER (on camera): It`s not appealing either.
KUTATELADZE: ... but it has a lot of phages, so.
SPENCER: Imagine you were trying to convince an American...
KUTATELADZE: Yes.
SPENCER: ... to try a medicine that was made from sewage that
had viruses in it that was used in the former
KUTATELADZE: Yes, but you can trust somehow, because it works.
And it has been working during so much time, so.
SPENCER (voice-over): And now, some American entrepreneurs
think it`s time to give this old technology new consideration.
GLENN MORRIS, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: Essentially, we`re
using things that nature made, but we`re kind of adding a little high-tech.
SPENCER: Infectious disease specialist, Glenn Morris, is
co-founder of Intralytix in
MORRIS: And so, what we do is to try to fully characterize the
little fellows.
SPENCER: ... one of a few small companies starting controlled
studies.
MORRIS: There is no question that on the test tube and on the
culture plate, these things work like gang busters. Translating that into
something that`s effective in terms of human therapy, there`s a lot to suggest
that they do work. But at least in this country, we still have to prove it.
SPENCER: And that will take at least three to five years, he
says, even using Eliava`s experience. And who knows where Eliava will be then?
(on camera): It`s a very impressive building.
KUTATELADZE: Yes, it is.
SPENCER (voice-over): The collapse of the
KUTATELADZE: We have some experience, and maybe other people
from the world, from foreign countries, can use it.
SPENCER (on camera): When you say that, a big smile comes on
your face, like...
KUTATELADZE: Yes, I hope so.
SPENCER (voice-over): There has been recent outside help...
(on camera): And this is your new equipment?
KUTATELADZE: Yes, this is our new equipment.
SPENCER (voice-over): ... including a grant from the U.S. State
Department.
KUTATELADZE: So, it`s very helpful, and this is the only way to
save our science and just keep going.
SPENCER: No one, not even in
KUTTER: I think we are absolutely crazy if we don`t learn to
use them and to use them well and efficiently and effectively.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): It`s very clear, our love is
here to stay...
SPENCER: One
(on camera): How happy are you that you took this risk and went
to
GERTLER: Well, I am thrilled. Like, I am not afraid anymore. I
don`t have any despair. You know, there is medicine there. So, my prospects
have suddenly improved.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Drew,
fruit tonight.
ANNOUNCER: Just ahead: Children and their parents who live in
fear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A sticker. Show them what it says.
Anything related to milk, he can`t have it. Even being around
eggs causes him to swell up.
ANNOUNCER: Why are potentially fatal food allergies on the
rise?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "NDS" in our house is "not
Drew-safe." UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ERIN MORIARTY, CBS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): He could die?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He could. Yes, he could.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ADRIENNE
RANDALL, DREW RANDALL`S MOTHER: Drew, fruit tonight. What do you want? I`ve got
blueberries, nectarines bananas.
MORIARTY (voice-over): Whenever 3-year-old Drew Randall is
invited to a party near his home in
DREW RANDALL, SUFFERS FROM SEVERE FOOD ALLERGIES: This!
A. RANDALL: I can`t be sure that the ones that they are going
to have at the party tonight are OK, so I`ll take his.
MORIARTY: Adrienne, a special education teacher, isn`t just
being picky or even overprotective. A bite of the wrong food could kill Drew.
A. RANDALL: The worst-case scenario is that he has an
anaphylactic reaction that causes some kind of, like, terminal damage.
MORIARTY (on camera): He could die?
A. RANDALL: He could. Yes, he could.
MORIARTY (voice-over): Drew has severe food allergies.
A. RANDALL: He`s sensitive enough to egg that even being around
eggs when they`re cooking causes him to swell up. He`s allergic to milk, and
then he`s also allergic to peanuts.
JACQUI CORBA, SUFFERS FROM SEVERE FOOD ALLERGIES: I have
trouble breathing, my throat feels tight.
MORIARTY: Twelve-year-old Jacqui Corba of Greenwich,
Connecticut, is also allergic to peanuts. She can`t eat them or even inhale the
dust from them.
J. CORBA: It feels like you`re scared that you`re going to die.
MORIARTY: And it`s not just peanuts.
J. CORBA: Sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy
seeds.
MORIARTY (on camera): Eating something that was made in a
factory that processes peanuts?
J. CORBA: That could -- that could kill me.
MORIARTY: Kill you?
J. CORBA: Yes.
MORIARTY: Anyone who has a child today knows someone like
Jacqui and Drew. There are an estimated seven million Americans with food
allergies, with an average of 200 who die every year. And while no one knows
exactly why, the number of those with food allergies is on the rise.
DR. HUGH SAMPSON, ALLERGIST: There does appear to be almost an
epidemic, I would say, in the last five to 10 years.
MORIARTY (voice-over): Dr. Hugh Sampson is an allergist at Mt.
Sinai Hospital in New York.
(on camera): Why are we seeing so many more kids with food
allergies?
SAMPSON: That`s a great question.
MORIARTY (voice-over): First and foremost, there seems to be a
link between nursing mothers and eating peanuts. It may not be a coincidence,
says Dr. Sampson, that 90 percent of the children who develop a serious peanut
allergy, including Drew and Jacqui, were breastfed as infants.
SAMPSON: With the increase in breastfeeding, some of these
children are getting exposed to very allergenic proteins. The general consensus
is, we`d rather the mothers not eat peanuts while they`re breastfeeding if
they`re from allergic families.
MORIARTY: This is one of Dr. Sampson`s young patients during a
test for an allergy to egg.
SAMPSON: And then, you can see when we look on the rest of his
body, he`s got, you know, a very itchy, red rash.
You`re really doing Russian roulette. You know, you spin the
barrel each time you have a reaction, and I think that`s what generates such
fear in the parents.
MORIARTY: Jacqui Corba has already had 15 allergic episodes.
J. CORBA: When we went outside...
MORIARTY: Because each one seems more severe than the last,
Jacqui`s life has become ruled by food -- what she can eat and what she can`t.
DIANE CORBA, JACQUI CORBA`S MOTHER: Like, this is the nightmare
right here, this section.
MORIARTY: Grocery shopping for Jacqui`s mom, Diane, has become
an unpleasant, even scary ordeal.
D. CORBA: Allergy information, there it is. I`m going to look
all through this.
MORIARTY: While many food manufacturers have added allergy
information to their labels, and Congress is considering a law that would make
it mandatory, in some cases, a silent killer is invisible.
D. CORBA: Now it says "pecans." MORIARTY (on camera):
And what does it say on the allergy information?
D. CORBA: It doesn`t say anything about nuts, which is very
weird.
That`s why you have to read it.
MORIARTY: Because, if you make a mistake, yes.
D. CORBA: So much for that label.
A. RANDALL: Pop tart big.
D. RANDALL: Yes.
MORIARTY (voice-over): Life is even more complicated for
Adrienne Randall, whose 3-year-old son, Drew, has an even greater number of
food allergies.
A. RANDALL: This cabinet is all Drew-safe. Everything in here
is stuff that`s either for Drew or that Drew can eat.
MORIARTY: Because her older son, 4-year-old Jake, doesn`t have
any allergies, Adrienne has had to devise a complex storage system to keep
their food separated.
(on camera): What does that "NDS" mean?
A. RANDALL: This means, "not Drew-safe." This is the
stuff that Jacob can pull out, like, for a snack if Drew is not around.
I have "not Drew-safe" on the top, and then, I always
write it on the ingredients panel.
MORIARTY (voice-over): But keeping things safe is getting more
and more difficult the older Drew gets and the more places he eats, like
birthday parties.
A. RANDALL: Your sticker to remind people that they should not
feed you, right? Why not? Why do they not feed you?
D. RANDALL: Because I could get sick.
MORIARTY: But even with the plainly visible sticker, Adrienne
still hovers nearby.
A. RANDALL: I`m waiting to eat. Then, I won`t be so nervous.
MORIARTY: While Drew is too young to care, Jacqui knows what
it`s like to be singled out for her allergy. A talented tennis player who hopes
one day to play professionally, she`s best known at her middle school as: J.
CORBA: "Peanut Girl." That`s me. That`s the popular one.
"Peanut Girl." MORIARTY (on camera): And how do you
feel about it?
J. CORBA: I can`t stand it.
MORIARTY (voice-over): Because Jacqui`s food allergy is
considered a disability, her school is required by law to keep her safe. So, at
lunch, Jacqui eats in what`s called a "peanut-free zone" that
includes not only her table, but the ones that surround hers.
(on camera): So you like her that much that you`ll give up that
Snickers bar?
(voice-over): And even with all of the precautions, Jacqui
never leaves home without her epi-pens...
(on camera): This is, like, a shot.
J. CORBA: Yes.
MORIARTY: Where does it go?
J. CORBA: It goes right in my leg.
MORIARTY (voice-over): ... disposable syringes that carry
medicine, epinephrine. That could save her life in the event of a severe
allergic reaction, like the one she had a year-a-half ago in a New York deli.
J. CORBA: And my mom and I asked, "So, does this have any
seeds on the bun?" And they said, "No." I was about to take
another bite, and I looked on the bottom, there was about four seeds.
MORIARTY: Thirty minutes later, Jacqui was in serious trouble.
D. CORBA: I saw her, and she was like gray and like the
cupboard.
And she started sliding down the wall, and I just grabbed the
epi-pen and just jammed it in her leg.
MORIARTY: Diane rushed Jacqui to the hospital.
D. CORBA: I think that it was the worst time of her life, but
clearly, the worst time of my life. I mean, just to be in the middle of that
and know that this is going to happen again.
MORIARTY (on camera): After that experience, were you hesitant
to eat food at all?
J. CORBA: I was so hesitant. I -- it changed me. It changed me.
I was very, very nervous to eat.
MORIARTY (voice-over): And Jacqui is still nervous.
J. CORBA: I get so nervous and full of anxiety that I create
the symptoms. I still get a little shaky in New York, like eating. I don`t want
to get near that street. It just scares me. I don`t want to look at that
hospital.
MORIARTY: Because only 20 percent of children with peanut
allergies outgrow them, Jacqui is going to have to get used to living with
anxiety, which is why playing tennis has come to mean so much to Jacqui. On the
court, her only risk is losing a match.
(on camera): And when you`re playing tennis, you`re not the
"Peanut Girl?" J. CORBA: And I love that.
MORIARTY: You`re not worrying about your allergies?
J. CORBA: Yes, I just play my game, and it`s peaceful. It`s a
great feeling to know that I don`t have to worry about that situation.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Next: One
family`s heartbreaking journey.
VAN SANT (on camera): John, just how close were you to dying?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As close as you can get.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember falling to my knees saying, `My
God, what`s happening? What`s wrong?` ANNOUNCER: But it might easily have been
prevented. We`ll show you how.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) RATHER: Millions of college
students have been arriving on campuses all across the country, armed with the
latest tools for the information age -- laptops, cell phones, pagers and Palm
Pilots -- all at the ready. But there is something else going around on campus
that a lot of students and their parents may not be prepared for, although it
is something a lot of medical experts say young people can and should be
protected against.
Peter Van Sant now has a story of one family who got a lesson
they never anticipated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN KACH, COLLEGE STUDENT: Everything was, you
know, going my way.
I was happy.
VAN SANT (voice-over): In March of 2000...
J. KACH: I started concentrating on basketball, started to
lift, getting my grades up, still parties, still doing my thing.
VAN SANT: ... 19-year-old John Kach was having the time of his
life.
A college freshman at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode
Island, John was on his way to becoming a star basketball player.
(on camera): What`s this picture?
J. KACH: This is when we beat Bridgewater State, I had
basically the game-winning basket.
VAN SANT (voice-over): But just months after that winning
basket, this 6 foot 4, 210-pound athlete lost almost everything.
John`s nightmare began when he was recovering from what he
thought was the flu...
J. KACH: I was in my dorm room on a Friday night. I wasn`t
feeling all that great, so I stayed in. All of a sudden, my stomach doesn`t
feel right. And you know, and then I started getting real hot, fever.
VAN SANT: ... until John`s fever soared to 105, and he was
rushed to the hospital.
PAIGE KACH, JOHN KACH`S MOTHER: To be that sick, to be brought
to the hospital, knowing my son, John, it just gave me that funny feeling.
VAN SANT: John`s mother, Paige, was more than 150 miles away at
her home in Carmel, New York, when she got a call from an emergency room
doctor.
P. KACH: And he said, "Mrs. Kach, we are transporting John
from Newport Hospital to Providence. He`s a very, very sick young man, and
you`ve got to get here as soon as you can." I remember falling to my knees
saying, `My God, what`s happening?
What`s wrong?" VAN SANT: John had contracted a rare, but
often fatal form of bacterial meningitis that attacked and shut down his major
organs.
DR. MITCHELL LEVY, INTENSIVE CARE SPECIALIST: There`s very
little warning, and if you don`t see someone very early, it can be difficult to
prevent death.
VAN SANT: Intensive care specialist, Dr. Mitchell Levy of Rhode
Island Hospital, was battling the meningitis with massive amounts of
antibiotics.
LEVY: His lungs were filling up with fluid, and his blood
pressure was gravely low.
VAN SANT: Unable to breathe on his own, John was placed into a
drug- induced coma. Within the first two days, John was given his last rites
not once, but twice.
P. KACH: I remember going into John`s room, and he was under.
And I remember kissing him and saying, `If you can`t do this, if you can`t make
it through this, you go ahead and go. Mommy will understand. Don`t stay for
mommy, because I`ll understand. But if you want to do this and you want to
fight, we will fight this as a family.` VAN SANT (on camera): John was fighting
a disease he most likely caught at college. Bacterial meningitis is spread
through saliva, and studies show that college freshmen living in dorms are in
the highest risk group.
LEVY: Why eight people can be exposed to it and only one person
gets it is still a mystery to medicine. And I have seen young people come in
with a sore throat and be dead within 24 hours.
VAN SANT (voice-over): And each year, more than 100 college
freshmen, like John, come down with the disease.
LEVY: I thought he was going to die. I thought he was going to
die, and not just when he first came in, but honestly, for quite a while after
he was in the ICU.
VAN SANT: Weeks passed, and the Kach family camped out in the
hospital waiting room.
(on camera): And how close are you to your brother?
MIKE KACH JR., JOHN KACH`S BROTHER: Real close.
VAN SANT: So, he`s a good friend as well as a brother?
M. KACH JR.: Best friend.
VAN SANT (voice-over): John`s 19-year-old brother, Mike Jr.,
remembers those painful days.
M. KACH JR.: It was like a dream. It didn`t seem like it was
real.
I just waited.
VAN SANT: John`s father, Mike Sr., watched as his son wasted
away.
(on camera): Give me a sense, Michael, of the shock of seeing
your son, the athlete, in bed with that mask on?
MIKE KACH SR., JOHN KACH`S FATHER: Not shock as much as fear --
just pure, pure fear.
VAN SANT (voice-over): To keep their hope alive, John`s family
and friends kept a journal.
P. KACH: All of your teammates have been here, and Mike has
been here every day.
M. KACH JR.: "You`re my best friend and my idol. I have
looked up to you since I was a little kid. I love you. Mike." VAN SANT:
After six weeks of treatment, Dr. Levy decided to bring John out of the coma.
J. KACH: When I woke up, I remember Dr. Levy leaning over me,
slapping his hands.
LEVY: You clapped, and you said, "John, look at me."
P. KACH: It was probably one of the happiest days of my life.
M. KACH JR.: I kissed him. I said, I loved him, because that
was what I was waiting to say to him the whole time. He asked me how school was
going, how basketball was going. I mean, he always cared so much for me that he
would always ask me how I was doing, when he was the one laying in the bed.
VAN SANT: But John`s physical ordeal was just beginning.
Doctors were able to save his life, but the price was very high.
MIKE KACH SR.: I have never really begged for anything in my
life, but I did beg the doctor, `Please, be as conservative and frugal as you
possibly can.` VAN SANT (on camera): What are we looking at here?
J. KACH: This is my right leg. This is the one that I lost
below my knee.
VAN SANT: And what are we looking at here?
J. KACH: That`s my right hand.
VAN SANT: What goes through your mind when you look at this?
J. KACH: It`s tough. You know, it`s tough to think that that`s
me.
VAN SANT: That`s your right hand in this picture, and let me
see your right hand now.
J. KACH: That`s my right hand today.
VAN SANT (voice-over): The meningitis prevented blood from
circulating to John`s limbs, causing tissue to die. Amputation was inevitable.
P. KACH: Any parent sitting anywhere can`t even imagine how
horrible it is to have somebody say, "We`re going to cut off his hands,
we`re going to cut off his legs." You`re a beautiful child. You`re a
gorgeous 6 foot 4, strapping, 210, handsome young man, who walks and runs and
plays and jumps around and holds hands with his girlfriend. And all of a
sudden, you`re going to take all of that away?
VAN SANT: What the disease couldn`t take away was John`s will.
J. KACH: It was a lot of pain. I think I could go through
anything right now.
VAN SANT: He triumphed over five grueling months in rehab.
P. KACH: He said to me once, "Why me, Ma? I tried to do it
all by the book. Why me?" I had no answers. I said, `Honey, I don`t know.`
And he never asked me that again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can do the honors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is that?
VAN SANT: Today, with the help of his family, and these custom-made
pads for his hands...
J. KACH: And my dad just made them up to fit me better. And
with these, you know, I can squeeze the ball.
VAN SANT: ... John has learned to do just about everything.
P. KACH: I think he was born with something so special, and I
think we were lucky enough to nurture it.
VAN SANT: As terrible as what happened to John Kach, it`s
almost as agonizing to know...
J. KACH: I knew about the vaccine, didn`t get it, wish I did.
VAN SANT: ... it might easily have been prevented.
P. KACH: There is a vaccine that can prevent this kind of
heartache.
VAN SANT: That`s next.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, lock it. Give me one more. Come on, push, push.
Come on, come on.
VAN SANT (voice-over): John Kach is working hard to rebuild his
life...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.
VAN SANT: ... and his body...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, push. Good.
VAN SANT: ... which were both nearly destroyed by bacterial
meningitis.
(on camera): John, just how close were you to dying?
J. KACH: As close as you can get.
VAN SANT (voice-over): John`s close encounter with death has
set him on a new mission: To let people know that most forms of the disease can
be prevented with a single shot.
J. KACH: I`m here today to talk with my mom to basically get
the word out about the vaccine.
VAN SANT: John and his mother, Paige, are part of a group
called, Moms on Meningitis. Their message: What happened to John doesn`t have
to happen to you.
J. KACH: This changed my life big-time. And you know, I don`t
want to see anyone else go through what I went through and my family went
through. I wouldn`t wish this on my worst enemy.
DR. JAMES TURNER, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: If you get the shot,
you have reduced your risk by about 80 percent.
VAN SANT: Dr. James Turner is the executive director of student
health at the University of Virginia, where all incoming freshmen are required
to be vaccinated for bacterial meningitis.
TURNER: We have learned of a lot of young people`s lives who
could have been saved if we had only been vaccinating years ago.
VAN SANT: The vaccine was first developed in the 1960s, after a
series of meningitis outbreaks in crowded military barracks.
TURNER: About 1971, every single military recruit started receiving
this vaccine, and the outbreaks of the disease virtually stopped.
VAN SANT (on camera): Today, it`s crowded college dormitories
that are the breeding ground for the disease. Each year, about 100 students get
sick, and a dozen die of bacterial meningitis.
Five states now mandate that all incoming freshmen be
vaccinated. The cost: between $70 and $80 per student.
TURNER: It`s a god-awful disease, and I have sat in the
intensive care units with the families as they have watched their children cling
to life, and it`s terrible. And to think for $70 or $80, we can prevent that,
it`s a no-brainer.
VAN SANT (voice-over): With virtually no side effects, Dr.
Turner wants to make the shot mandatory in all 50 states.
TURNER: We have made tremendous headway in getting students
vaccinated and getting information out there. Clearly, we`ve got a ways to go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing makes me more excited than being
able to announce No. 25, John Kach.
VAN SANT: John Kach doesn`t dwell on the past. Just nine months
after getting sick, John made an emotional return to visit his former
teammates.
J. KACH: I just try to make my life better, people`s lives
around me better, and just kind of show them, you know, there`s a lot to live
for.
VAN SANT (on camera): All right, man. Show me what you`ve got.
(voice-over): Today, John is not giving up his favorite sport.
He`s in training with a new goal: to make the U.S. Para-Olympic basketball
team.
(on camera): Well, I`ll tell you, with all that you have been
through, it`s a privilege to shoot hoops with you in this gym, man.
J. KACH: Thank you.
VAN SANT: It`s really a privilege.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: A paper cut
nearly killed Bobbie Mackeon. What are her chances for a full recovery? Stay with
us.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, go ahead, bring your arms up above your head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breathe in. Hold your breath.
SPENCER (voice-over): Nurse Bobbie Mackeon is still struggling
to overcome serious medical problems from an infected paper cut.
MACKEON: Ten years ago, we would have treated it with one drug,
it would have been gone. But unfortunately, the bacteria have gotten smart.
SPENCER: In her case, oral antibiotics failed, and more drastic
treatment left her with life-threatening complications.
MACKEON: I still have the pain in here that doesn`t seem to go
away.
Some days are worse than others SPENCER: But today, there is
good news. Her condition seems to have stabilized.
MACKEON: I can lower the amount of blood thinner I`m on.
SPENCER: And she can start working part-time.
MACKEON: I missed my patients.
SPENCER: She says, she won`t hesitate to drive home with her
patients the lesson that she learned firsthand: Overuse antibiotics, and they
soon may have no use at all.
MACKEON: If I can get them to understand why I don`t want to
give an antibiotic for a virus, maybe my grandchildren will have antibiotics
that work.
(END VIDEOTAPE) RATHER: Tonight is the last 48 HOURS I`ll be
doing, at least for a while. It`s been a long, good run; more than 15 years, as
one who helped create the program, and then be a reporter and anchor for it.
The original idea was to be on once a week or more in
primetime, with focused, emotionally moving hours of television journalism that
affects people`s lives. Not just short bursts, but full hours on one subject.
And to do full hours in times of crisis -- everything from hurricanes to war.
48 HOURS has done that, and is today the third longest-running
program in primetime. Some of the most accomplished, professional journalists
in the world have made it so, and they`ll continue to do that.
In the season ahead, my friend and colleague, the veteran and
distinguished correspondent, Lesley Stahl, will be anchoring the new 48 HOURS:
48 HOURS INVESTIGATES. Lesley and the 48 HOURS` team will take this broadcast
proudly into the future.
And now, please, take a look at a preview of next Friday`s
season premiere of "48 HOURS INVESTIGATES.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: A respected doctor is accused of
using a patient for sex.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am facing 18 years of prison for something
I didn`t do.
ANNOUNCER: But this is no ordinary case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who is going to believe me?
ANNOUNCER: His accuser has been diagnosed with multiple
personalities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t have a warning, and I -- and they
just...
PETER VAN SANT, CBS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): They just
appear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who am I speaking to now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) man, you know. All
right, hey, man, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) am only.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My life is at stake. My family`s life is at
stake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you do?
ANNOUNCER: You won`t believe this trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Am I talking to Vanessa?
ANNOUNCER: And, 48 HOURS did our own DNA testing with explosive
results the jury never saw.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never, ever had any kind of sexual contact
with this lady.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dr. Malave (ph) is lying.
ANNOUNCER: The season premiere of 48 HOURS INVESTIGATES,
"A Crime of the Mind," next Friday.
(END VIDEO CLIP) RATHER: I`m Dan Rather.
As always, thank you for watching. And be sure to tune in next
week for the season premiere of 48 HOURS INVESTIGATES.
Good night.
END
Content and programming Copyright MCMXCVIII CBS Worldwide Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright MCMXCVIII Federal Document
Clearting House, Inc., which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the
transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This is not a legal transcript for purposes
of litigation.
Content and programming Copyright 2002 CBS Worldwide Inc. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2002 Federal Document Clearing House,
Inc., which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription.
