Guys, I'm going to make this short and simple by revealing Fletcher's unknown virus which he managed to catch. For those of you that aren't aware of the situation; Fletcher somehow caught a virus, and lost a lot of weight - a symptom which indicates the activeness of Tuberculosis (TB). The general symptoms of TB disease include feelings of sickness or weakness, weight loss, fever, and night sweats. If rumours are to be believed, I'm saddened to hear such thing preventing a United player from demonstrating his abilities. Please feel free to contribute towards this thread by posting your genuine thoughts below.
Do you have any evidence or medical opinions to support this? I'm asking because: a) Fletch has consistently been reported as having a stomach virus, when TB is usually a pulmonary infection. b) TB can usually be diagnosed within four weeks, often earlier with a fluoroscopy, and takes at least six months of treatment with antibiotics to fully recover from. If Fletch caught TB in March, SAF should have known about it in April at the latest. If this is the case, why did he try to play Fletch in late April, in full knowledge that he was at least four months away from recovery? c) The major symptoms of TB are coughing up blood and phlegm, as well as chest pain and shortness of breath. Fletch didn't seem short of breath at any point when playing in April and May, nor did he cough anything up. And again, if he was suffering from a long term disease causing shortness of breath, what are the chances he would have been allowed (or even been able) to play professional football even for a short period? I'm not saying you are wrong, and if you have any authoritative sources on this it would be good to hear them. I'm just wondering why you jumped to TB, when Fletch doesn't have any of the main symptoms and there are at least 100 other medical conditions that can cause sickness and weight loss.
The bacteria responsible for TB are very slow moving, so TB developed slowly in his body. He may not have experienced any symptoms for many months after being infected. Fletcher's immune system did not kill the bacteria, but managed to build a defensive barrier around the infection. This means that he did not have any symptoms, but the bacteria remained in his body for sometime - that's known as latent TB.
So if he had no symptoms, why did he have to stop playing? He fell ill and began showing symptoms on the 5th March before the Liverpool match. Ergo he cannot have had latent TB at that time as he was symptomatic. As above - he was already showing symptoms in March and April. If symptoms were showing, that would mean the TB had already overwhelmed his immune system and would have been detected in a sputum culture, fluoroscopy or chest X-ray. Also, TB is a bacteria, not a virus. Why would they say he has a stomach virus when he had a pulmonary bacterial infection?
The bacteria remains alive in the body and can become active again later. So, if he felt unable to feature against Liverpool, SAF might have decided not to take the risk in playing him. The risk is higher for people who live in or travel to countries that have high rates of tuberculosis. If that was the case, then that would have created an unnecessary controversial. We aren't aware of what happens behind closed doors.
You didn't answer my question - if he had latent TB with no symptoms then why did he miss two months of the season? And if the symptoms surfaced then why were they not diagnosed and treated with a full six month course of antibiotics and rest? Also, Fletcher did play against Liverpool as a sub, which would have been impossible if he were showing TB symptoms. Which only serves to reinforce my suspicion that you have no idea what you are talking about and are trying to peddle gossip as fact. What are you talking about? The only part of that statement that makes sense is "we aren't aware of what happens behind closed doors". So I ask again, do you have any authoritative medical facts on which to base your opinion that Fletch has TB, or are you just spreading malicious rumours based on a Google diagnosis? Because if you don't have any facts to back up your claim then this thread is potentially libellous.
He would've been immunised as a child as most people over the age of 18 are. I was the first year group not to get immunised for it and I'm 18.
Why not provide a source of this infomation that you have found out, rather than just everyone? Or is it a conclusion you have come up with yourself through speculation and personal opinion? In that case :
TB isn't a virus. It's caused by bacteria. Not saying Mr Fletcher doesn't have it, it's possbile he picked it up on a plane somewhere, sitting next to one with active TB and coughing. I even have a relative who caught TB last year sometime. it's also possible to be dormant and then become active due to a general systemic inflammation like flu or pneumonia. Also the vaccination only works in about 50%, therefore it has been halted in most european countries. TB can indeed be hard to diagnose, it takes up to 3 weeks to grow in culture, which in itself is a tricky thing to do. If the statement said virus, it's more likely he's suffering from mononucleosis (kissing disease), hiv, or ebv.
