Dr. McCullough on the Explosive Diarrhea Outbreak: “Stop Trusting the System to Protect You”
The “explosive diarrhea” outbreak – caused by a quickly spreading cyclospora parasite infection – seems to be growing every single day. Even worse, the state and federal healthcare bureaucracies seem to have no answers to this outbreak.
Writing in his Substack, Dr. McCullough notes:
The CDC has 12,000 employees and a $9 billion budget. The USDA and FDA are supposed to inspect imported produce. None of them caught this before people got sick. None of them got ahead of it after people got sick either.
McCullough’s phrase — “paralysis by analysis” — captures the core problem. These agencies excel at holding meetings and issuing press releases days after the damage is done. What they don’t do is protect Americans in real time.
When McCullough is asked to tackle the question of whether or not Americans should stop eating lettuce – or other potentially infected produce – he responds with, “no, but you should stop trusting the system to protect you.”
Dr. McCullough does offer up some specifics on what people can do to stay healthy:
- Wash produce thoroughly— but understand that with leafy greens that absorb water, washing has limits.
- Have treatment on hand.McCullough emphasized that the combination of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim/Septra) shuts this down in about a week instead of a month of misery. Without it, you’re at the mercy of an overburdened healthcare system that’s perpetually behind the curve.
- Optimize your immune system.A robust immune system can handle a low-dose exposure that floors someone with a junk-food diet. McCullough recommended immune-support supplements (he mentioned The Wellness Company’s Natural Immunity capsules) and daily nasal/throat spray (Immune Defense) containing xylitol and erythritol to prevent pathogens from colonizing.
Dr. McCullough makes the critical point that this isn’t really about lettuce, its about the institutional failures of our healthcare bureaucracies (again!):
This isn’t really about lettuce. It’s about a public health infrastructure that spends billions preparing for theoretical biothreats while getting pantsed by a protozoan on a salad bar. The solution isn’t to stop eating vegetables — it’s to stop outsourcing your health security to agencies that have repeatedly demonstrated they can’t deliver.
What is Cyclospora
As a reminder, cyclospora is a parasite that spreads through raw produce and water that has been contaminated with human feces. The infection caused by the parasite, called cyclosporiasis, is responsible for what a variety of symptoms, including what is being referred to as “explosive diarrhea” in addition to cramps, fatigue, loss of appetite, low-grade fever and vomiting.
These symptoms can last up to a month if untreated!
In previous US outbreaks, cyclospora has been linked to fresh produce, including raspberries, basil, cilantro, green onions, snow peas, lettuce, mesclun and salad mixes. Research has also connected past outbreaks to blackberries, watercress, mangoes and even vegetable trays.
The Treatment
You can try to avoid every single food linked to cyclospora, you can follow all of the proper food safety practices, and you can still end up with the infection!
So what do you do to keep your family safe and healthy?
The good news is that while the cause of this outbreak is unknown, we do know what the treatment is – trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole – more commonly known as Bactrim.
Bactrim not only treats cyclospora infections but is the recommended treatment for a range of other GI and bacterial infections.
Don’t Wait Until You are Sick
We all know the time to stock up on medication – whether over the counter or prescription – is when you are healthy. Early intervention means early treatment and early treatment means a quicker path to recovery!
So how do you stock up on Bactrim?
That’s where The Wellness Company comes in!
This medical emergency kit contains an assortment of life-saving prescription medications – including Bactrim, as well as ivermectin, amoxicillin, Z-pak, and other medications. The Medical Emergency Kit includes a guidebook to aid in the safe use of these life-saving medications.
This kit is prescription-only – you can’t find it in any store or pharmacy. Simply fill out a short questionnaire after purchase and a trusted Wellness Company doctor will confirm your suitability and issue your prescription Medical Emergency Kit.
The Wellness Company Medical Emergency Kit includes:
- Amoxicillin-Clavulanate (generic Augmentin) — 28 tablets
- Azithromycin (generic Z-Pak) — 12 tablets
- Doxycycline Hyclate — 60 capsules
- Metronidazole (generic Flagyl) — 30 tablets
- Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole (generic Bactrim) — 28 tablets
- Ivermectin — 25 compounded capsules
- Fluconazole (generic Diflucan) — 2 tablets
- Ondansetron (generic Zofran) — 6 tablets
- Emergency Medication Guidebook written by The Wellness Company’s Chief Medical Board with instructions for safe use
What people are saying about the Medical Emergency Kit:
Excellent Kit! This medical emergency kit is great. Having it “just in case” gives me peace of mind. Highly recommend. Thank you! – Melinda C.
Glad that I purchased your Medical Emergency Kit! Though I haven’t yet needed to use any of the medications that are in our kit, I am happy that I ordered it! One never knows when “an emergency might occur”, and I feel safer having your M.E.Kit at my disposal IF needed! We’re so glad we ordered ours! Thank you for making it available! – Susan M.
Peace of mind. It is an amazing peace of mind to have this kit in case of emergencies and shortages. The Wellness Company did an excellent job of getting this to me in a timely manner and I and thankful to have it. – Phyllis T.
Great medical emergency kit. Kit came as advertised! Neat and orderly. The guide is great. Only plan on using it in an emergency during a difficult time. Confident it is what I was counting on. – Fred D.