New Pathogen Epidemic Identified in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Wellcome Trust
November 2013
“New Pathogen Epidemic Identified in Sub-Saharan Africa” is not only a fascinating article on disease, but is the living breathing evidence that our earth is still at war with disease, as it has been since the beginning of time. Provided by the Wellcome Trust, this article describes the emergence and spread of a newly discovered intestinal disease. This disease known as iNTS (invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella) is caused by a new form of the bacteria Salmonella Typhimurium that has spread from two different centers of activity in Southern and Central Africa.
Researchers attribute iNTS’s high mortality rate, (45 % of those infected) to the poor health conditions in Africa where malnutrition, HIV and Malaria are endemic and frightfully common. By studying the evolution of iNTS, researchers discovered that most affected with iNTS contained a gene resistant to chloramphenicol, a front line antibiotic used to treat Salmonella. In other words, iNTS is a direct bacterial reaction against antibiotics, creating a new strain that modern science has yet to crack. Gordon Dougan, lead author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, explains “Now the race is to discover how iNTS is actually transmitted in Sub-Saharan Africa so that effective intervention strategies can be implemented.”
Perhaps the scariest part of iNTS is not the disease itself, but the fact that we know so little about it. Yes we understand what happens once someone is infected but no one knows for sure how the infection has spread and how it will evolve. As the epidemic progresses, so will the disease thus creating an almost ticking time bomb between disease and medicine. This absolute blindness reminds me of all three epidemics that we have studied this far. In the Cholera Epidemics of the 19th century, the Smallpox Epidemics of the 18th century and Plague during the 15th century, people of the time had no idea what could be causing such horrific pestilences. Some believed it was divine intervention while others believed stoutly in the miasma theory. Either way, right or wrong, they were overcome by fear born from their lack of knowledge and confidence in finding a cure. This unfortunately, is the case for the iNTS epidemic now evolving in Africa.
I think this is a very important issue that people need to keep in mind. We have made great strides in medicine and learned quite a bit about diseases. By making such progress, however, I think people may forget that we are far from knowing everything. There are still new diseases that will be uncovered and that is important to keep in mind. We still have a lot to learn about disease prevention and treatment, but I hope it doesn't take a devastating outbreak of a new disease for people to realize this.
ReplyDeleteRachael, I think you make an interesting point when you acknowledge that while we may believe that we have greatly evolved, there is still a lot that scientists do not know in regards to disease and bacteria. However, I think it is almost comforting that we do not know everything and that scientists still have to work hard to gain new knowledge. While it may be frightening that diseases can develop without our knowledge, I think it keeps scientists striving to make progress.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that this new disease is so unknowable to us is very humbling because it really shows that we don't know as much about the world as we think. I imagine this confusion and desperation for knowledge about treatment and evolution is very much like what people in earlier times would have felt. Although we don't have a complete lack of knowledge on general medicine, and we certainly know more than people did during the smallpox or cholera epidemics, it is still fascinating to see the human reaction to the unknown, and how similar responses are from now and then. I would be curious to know what steps scientists today are taking to further understand this new disease.
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