ABOUT
Cholera is an infectious disease of the small intestine that causes large amounts of watery diarrhea. The poisonous bacteria multiplies rapidly in the small intestine and then produces a toxin that causes dehydration, diarrhoea and vomiting. If it is not treated, it will eventually cause death. Typically, it is transmitted by contaminated food or water. The bacteria thrives in unsanitary, dirty conditions especially where raw sewage is mixed with drinking water. Cholera is one of the oldest infectious diseases known to man. This is evident from 400 B.C.E, when Hippocrates catalogued the diseases of his world. Cholera was on that list. Cholera probably originated along the Ganges River in Athens in the very early ages.
INCUBATION
Cholera is supposedly a quick killer, with an incubation period of 12 to 28 hours, symptoms are almost instantaneous. However, the incubation period is arguable because this article was written by Steve Conner from the Independent Newspaper in the UK and the World Health Organisation has a different idea of the timing to do with cholera incubation. They state that the incubation period is between 2 hours and 5 days. So, after extensive research and checking of several websites, I have decided to trust the WHO over the newspaper, for the WHO specialises in health.
SYMPTOMS
Cholera symptoms start off with painless, diarrhoea and then vomiting, drop in blood pressure and muscular cramps. Within 24 hours, approximately four gallons of body fluids can be lost. If prompt rehydration is not in place, patients can fall into a coma and die of shock within two to seven days. However, if patient does visit a doctor and receive the right medication and diagnosis, recovery will be surprisingly fast. According to the Independent Newspaper, there are approximately 3-5 million cases of cholera each year, and about 100,000 to 120,000 deaths.
Main Credits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGDEqcJ1skE
http://www.who.int/topics/cholera/en/
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/10-oldest-known-diseases.htm#page=1
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/vibrio-cholerae-how-it-spreads-kills-and-can-be-eradicated-2316311.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG1VNSCsP5Q
Monday, 24 November 2014
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Shingles
About Shingles
Shingles is a painful rash of small blisters that occurs on one side of the body. It is usually on a band of the back and the chest. Shingles occurs when the virus that causes chickenpox reactivates itself in your body. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk of getting shingles. After recovering from chicken pox, the virus stays in your nerve cells in your spinal cord for the rest of your life. Usually it lies dormant and causes no more issues, however if your immune system weakens your body can not fight the disease, which causes the virus to become active again. If this happens, it causes shingles and you will start to receive the first symptoms, which are over-sensitivity and/or a painful sensation in the affected area.
Risks and Chance
The chance of getting shingles at some point in your life is quite high. Data has shown that one in five people will get shingles before they die. Even though Shingles is not as contagious as chicken pox, it is still very easy to catch. Therefore, patients suffering from shingles should stay away from elderly, babies, young children and pregnant women.
Complications
Unfortunately, there is no cure available for people suffering from shingles, your GP will probably prescribe you some medicines but they won't work very well unless it is within first 72 hours of having shingles. Sometimes it is too late for the medicine to work by the time you have been diagnosed. The virus affects your nerves, which means that even after recovering from the disease, patients will still suffer pain after the rash is gone. The pain can linger for weeks, months or even years. Shingles can affect the area around your eyes, which can cause conjunctivitis and redness. This can also cause issues with your vision. If you have any issues with your eyes when suffering from shingles, you need to see a doctor or optometrist. In rare cases, shingles can cause complications of the brain, which is called encephalitis. Encephalitis is a condition that causes irritation and inflammation of the brain and can be life threatening. Finally, shingles can cause short term hearing loss and other ear issues.
Cause
There are many things that increase the risks of the virus reactivating itself in your body. The following are the main reasons:
- Being over 50
It is estimated that about 1 million people get shingles each year in the US. The majority of them are over 60.
- Period of Increased Stress
- Long term course of corticosteroids
- Having a condition that weakens the immune system. For example, HIV and AIDS.
- Cancer treatments. E.g. chemotherapy
- Medicines affecting the immune system after an organ transplant
Prevention Of Shingles
In Australia, there is a vaccine to prevent shingles and Postherpetic Neuralgia. This vaccine is called the Zostavax (Herpes Zoster Vaccine) and it has been legallized in the US, UK, Australia and a few other places. This vaccine, which was developed by Merck & Co, has been proven trustworthy and has both reduced the risk of catching shingles and reducing the pain of the virus if it is caught. However, this vaccine is not legal in every country so the other way to prevent shingles is to receive the two shots of the Chicken Pox vaccine, which has shown to prevent shingles in 50% of cases.
Credits
http://www.nfid.org/publications/factsheets/varicellaadult.pdf
http://www.bupa.com.au/health-and-wellness/health-information/az-health-information/shingles#Causes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoster_vaccine
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa051016#t=abstract
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/basics/definition/con-20019574
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/
http://www.zostavax.com
Shingles is a painful rash of small blisters that occurs on one side of the body. It is usually on a band of the back and the chest. Shingles occurs when the virus that causes chickenpox reactivates itself in your body. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk of getting shingles. After recovering from chicken pox, the virus stays in your nerve cells in your spinal cord for the rest of your life. Usually it lies dormant and causes no more issues, however if your immune system weakens your body can not fight the disease, which causes the virus to become active again. If this happens, it causes shingles and you will start to receive the first symptoms, which are over-sensitivity and/or a painful sensation in the affected area.
Risks and Chance
The chance of getting shingles at some point in your life is quite high. Data has shown that one in five people will get shingles before they die. Even though Shingles is not as contagious as chicken pox, it is still very easy to catch. Therefore, patients suffering from shingles should stay away from elderly, babies, young children and pregnant women.
Complications
Unfortunately, there is no cure available for people suffering from shingles, your GP will probably prescribe you some medicines but they won't work very well unless it is within first 72 hours of having shingles. Sometimes it is too late for the medicine to work by the time you have been diagnosed. The virus affects your nerves, which means that even after recovering from the disease, patients will still suffer pain after the rash is gone. The pain can linger for weeks, months or even years. Shingles can affect the area around your eyes, which can cause conjunctivitis and redness. This can also cause issues with your vision. If you have any issues with your eyes when suffering from shingles, you need to see a doctor or optometrist. In rare cases, shingles can cause complications of the brain, which is called encephalitis. Encephalitis is a condition that causes irritation and inflammation of the brain and can be life threatening. Finally, shingles can cause short term hearing loss and other ear issues.
Cause
There are many things that increase the risks of the virus reactivating itself in your body. The following are the main reasons:
- Being over 50
It is estimated that about 1 million people get shingles each year in the US. The majority of them are over 60.
- Period of Increased Stress
- Long term course of corticosteroids
- Having a condition that weakens the immune system. For example, HIV and AIDS.
- Cancer treatments. E.g. chemotherapy
- Medicines affecting the immune system after an organ transplant
Prevention Of Shingles
In Australia, there is a vaccine to prevent shingles and Postherpetic Neuralgia. This vaccine is called the Zostavax (Herpes Zoster Vaccine) and it has been legallized in the US, UK, Australia and a few other places. This vaccine, which was developed by Merck & Co, has been proven trustworthy and has both reduced the risk of catching shingles and reducing the pain of the virus if it is caught. However, this vaccine is not legal in every country so the other way to prevent shingles is to receive the two shots of the Chicken Pox vaccine, which has shown to prevent shingles in 50% of cases.
Credits
http://www.nfid.org/publications/factsheets/varicellaadult.pdf
http://www.bupa.com.au/health-and-wellness/health-information/az-health-information/shingles#Causes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoster_vaccine
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa051016#t=abstract
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/basics/definition/con-20019574
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/
http://www.zostavax.com
Another Word Cloud
The following word cloud shows different types of infectious diseases. I made it using WordItOut.com
Survey Results
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Tuesday, 18 November 2014
More Info on Smallpox
(Above) This is what the smallpox virus looks like.
This list of well known people really shows how common Smallpox was prior to eradication.
- Queen Mary II of England (died)
- Emperor Joseph I of Austria (died)
- King Luis I of Spain (died)
- Tsar Peter II of Russia (died in 1730)
- Queen Ulrika Elenora of Sweden (died)
- King Louis XV of France (died in 1774)
- U.S. President George Washington (survived in 1751)
- Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria (died in 1777)
- Margaret, Queen of Scotland (sister to King Henry VIII, survived)
- Anne of Cleves (fourth wife of Henry VIII, survived)
- Mary 1 of England (daughter of King Henry VIII, survived in 1527)
- Queen Elizabeth I of England (daughter of King Henry VIII, survived in 1562 but was heavily scarred)
- Abraham Lincoln (survived)
Smallpox
Smallpox was a very deadly disease that killed more than 10% of the British population in the 18th century. One in three childhood deaths were from Smallpox, a gruesome and painful death. Living in the 21st century, we are extremely lucky to be free from Smallpox and have less chance of catching a horrible disease like Polio or Diphtheria thanks to vaccines. Patients of the Smallpox disease die from internal bleeding and septicaemia. There is no cure for Smallpox, however there is treatment. In fact, the first ever successful vaccine was created by Edward Jenner in 1798 for Smallpox. Thanks to a result of worldwide, repeated vaccination programs, Smallpox has been completely eradicated. Now, the only people who are at risk of catching the variola virus are researchers that work with it in the lab.
Thursday, 6 November 2014
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