Jeannie Mai's Rare Throat Condition Explained

Jeannie Mai is probably best known for her work on The Real and a variety of high profile award shows. For a time she also made waves on Dancing with the Stars. But as BET reported last November, that all changed the day Mai woke up unable to breathe. A throat abscess made it impossible for her to get enough air, which meant Mai had to be hospitalized. And it meant the end of her time on Dancing with the Stars.

Doctors determined that Mai was suffering from epiglottitis, a relatively rare condition that often presents like a mild cold or throat issue before the symptoms escalate. Epiglottitis is a swelling of the epiglottis, which the Mayo Clinic describes as a sort of lid that opens and closes over your windpipe. When it swells, this lid feels like it is almost entirely closed and can reduce or stop a person's ability to breathe.

Prior to the advent of modern vaccines it was a relatively common and life-threatening condition that most often affected children. Although less common now, it is no less dangerous once it develops. And while modern vaccines eliminate the most common cause, there are a few others that can create a case like Mai's.

Prior to modern vaccines, most cases of epiglottitis were caused by a variation of the flu known as haemophilus influenzae type b (from the CDC). It's a flu strain most children are now inoculated against through some of their earliest vaccines, specifically the Hib vaccine.

The Mayo Clinic explains that prior to the vaccine, people carrying the Hib bacteria would sneeze or cough, releasing infected droplets into the air. Other people would then inhale these droplets, putting them at risk for epiglottitis as well as other infections.

Infections are not limited by age but the condition was more aggressive in children. Symptoms develop in a matter of hours and can prove fatal in less than a day if untreated. Symptoms include a fever, an extreme sore throat, fussy or restless behavior, excess drooling, difficulty swallowing or complaints that it is painful, and an unusual high pitched sound known as a stridor when they inhale. The symptoms will often improve when the child sits up or when they lean forward.

If caught early, epiglottitis can be treated with antibiotics. But as the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia explains, cases are rarely caught early enough to avoid additional treatments. Most often, these treatments don't seek to cure the infection, but rather to restore a patient's ability to breathe. Until these treatments are administered, however, the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests doing everything possible to keep the patient calm, particularly if they are a child. Stress and fear can cause further swelling and making breathing harder

These interventions can include the use of an oxygen mask or a breathing tube, if the airway has enough room for one. The Mayo Clinic adds that if the airway is not big enough, doctors may create an artificial airway in the cartilage of the trachea using a needle cricothyroidotomy procedure.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia goes on to explain that once the patient's breathing is stable, the diagnostic process can begin. As there are many possible reasons an airway will close, doctors may run several tests to pinpoint a cause. These can include blood tests, throat swabs, and x-rays of the throat. In serious cases the doctor may perform surgery on the patient's throat so the doctor can see the epiglottis directly. All of these tests can confirm a case of epiglottitis, at which point antibiotics are administered. Usually given first through an IV, they begin the process of destroying the infecting bacteria entirely.