Medicine: The Wedding Guest

One clear, cool evening last June, Diane and Herbert Rang were married in Los Angeles. After the ceremony at the West Adams Presbyterian Church, the young couple, both of Korean descent, led the way into an adjoining hall for the wedding banquet. There 300 guests sipped fruit punch and consumed platefuls of traditional Korean fare: tuna, popped rice, olives, tea and rice cakes.

Nearly a month later, a Los Angeles doctor stopped in to see an ailing patient. He quickly spotted some disturbing symptoms : high fever, intestinal pain, diarrhea. He ordered analysis of blood and stool samples. Back came confirmation of...

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