Cholera: Without Borders

In an article provided by All Headline News on the 8th Tom Ramstack reports the condition of three patients in New York that were treated for Cholera. The people who were unfortunate enough to contract Cholera have been treated and have recovered. The origin is most definitely from Haiti. The three from New York had recently attended a wedding in the Dominican Republic which borders Haiti. The travelers must have consumed contaminated food or water to come down with the illness. While these people have been treated it is worrying that Cholera is moving out of Haitian borders with travelers. Dr. Sharon Balter, a medical epidemiologist for the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene suspects that more cases will occur with travel to and from the country. The article can be read at: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/briefs/articles/9003370?Cholera%20in%20New%20York%20traced%20to%20Haitian%20epidemic#ixzz1DQzM9tpb
Similar to the Black Death and Small Pox, Cholera was in this case spread by travel. While Cholera is treatable in a country like the US other countries like the Dominican Republic and Cuba that are more likely to receive Cholera infected travelers may eventually not have enough resources to treat so many people. Since Cholera spreads like wild fire in areas with little sanitation and can kill without treatment. The prospect of Cholera spreading beyond Haitian borders is worrying because it really means that little is being done to combat Cholera in Haiti. If extensive work was being done to prevent the spread of and treat Cholera it would be a more contained incident. Since the travelers from New York did not even visit Haiti, only the Dominican Republic it is worrying that Cholera has already spread into another country. While efforts should be spent on treating those infected with Cholera at this time more should be spent on preventing it. Better to use preventative medicine than wait until more people get sick.

Tsunami of Infectious Diseases

Blount County, TN has been hit with a soaring amount of infectious diseases. Schools have been depleated and cancelling classes because of all the students missing due to illness. Dr. Andrew Smith said that in the past couple of weeks there have been three to four times as many people that need to be seen the same day they call in for acute illnesses that must be treated. The diseases that people have been calling in about have ranged from strep throat to the flu to very high fevers with flu-like symptoms. All of these diseases are highly infectious and are being passed around from person to person. The article (http://www.thedailytimes.com/Blount_Life/story/Tidal_wave_of_infectious_disease_washes_over_Blount_id_007559) goes over many myths and realitys of viruses and what to do if one enters your body.

This article stood out to me because all of these infections are so contagious that they could spread all the way to Massachusetts if not handled quickly. It also stood out to me because some of the myths talk about the differences between bacteria and viruses and also how to handle them. It also makes you realize how easy it can be to catch a virus from someone near you. It shows that prevention is the best way to avoid getting sick with a disease. These can be very hard to avoid but things like washing your hands constantly and keeping your immune system up may help.

Promise You Wont Tell

The article Human Rights in HIV, written by Lim Wey Win on January 9, 2011 is about the controversial side of HIV, the article can be found here http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2011/1/9/health/7655975&sec=health. This article shows how people are being discriminated due to their HIV status, even if they were promised confidentiality.

It has various quotes about people living with HIV who are discriminated due to it. Many people feel that their privacy is not being respected. This article has quotes from many people around the world but is focused in Malaysia.

Patients go into the doctor's office every day and are tested for HIV but for some people they choose to keep the results from that test a secret. They feel that if they share that they are HIV positive then they could lose their job and be looked down on in society.

One male living with HIV says "I was feeling very sick, so sick that they took me to the hospital. They found out I was HIV positive there. They told my brother before they told me. My family did not want me around the house any longer.”

A similar situation happened to a woman as well, “A woman went to (a) hospital for treatment and they found out she was HIV positive. The doctor respected her confidentiality, but one of the nurses lived in her neighbourhood and told on her. It became a horrible situation for the woman.”

This shows how people's privacy are not being respected and that HIV is looked down upon in society today. If you have this disease, many people do not want to be around you out of fear. Many HIV positive individuals are being denied treatment for other issues such as if they need surgery.

However, according to the president of the Malaysian Society of HIV Medicine, Dr. Christopher Lee says is it not because they have HIV but because it would be dangerous for them. “In this case, I’m not delaying the operation intentionally because I discriminate. I’m delaying it to make the patient better before we perform the operation.” Dr. Lee says that an HIV positive individual has a weaker immune system so they may react poorly to the treatment they are trying to receive.

I believe that society is to blame for this discrimination. People all over the world are afraid to tell even their own families if they are HIV positive because they don't want to be left on their own. It is also hard for an HIV positive individual because they have a weaker immune system so they cannot have all of the operations as a person without HIV can. I do not think that it is solely because they have HIV but because it is dangerous for their health. Who do you think is to blame? Should people who are HIV positive really be this upset? Why do you think people are being discriminated?

Cholera Spreads to the Dominican Republic

Arthur Brice and Mariano Castillo's article, "Cholera Strikes Fear in Dominican Republic, Tourists Reassured," from CNN on November 17, 2010, talks about how cholera has spread to the Dominican Republic. The first identified case if from Wilmo Louwes who brought cholera to the Dominican after returning from a trip to Haiti. Tourism is key to the Dominican Republic and the nation hosts a multitude of tourists throughout the year. Even though there have been cholera cases in the country, it is still okay for tourists to travel there. Dr. Eugene Gangarosa, a professor at Emory University in Atlanta stated, "Generally speaking, tourists are more aware of personal hygiene and sanitation and the importance of avoiding contaminated water. Tourists are not generally affected by cholera in the countries they visit." Additionally, health in the Dominican Republic is being closely watched, and if tourists stopped travelling to the country it would not provide any benefits for the country that relies so heavily on tourism. The media has made the case aware and Dominicans have been warned to wash their hands often and only ingest home cooked meals and be particularly wary of street vendors. The article can be found at: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-17/travel/dominican.republic.cholera.sidebar_1_dominican-republic-cholera-outbreak-cholera-case?_s=PM:TRAVEL

I think the most eye-opening part of the article was that the Dominican Republic is prepared for only a set limit of cholera cases and after they reach so many they will not be able to provide care for all those infected. It really shows the importance of clean water and how preventable cholera is if only there was clean water all around the world. We talked about cholera in Haiti in class and the article mentioned the Haitian outbreak and how cholera came to the Dominican from Haiti. Cholera cases are easily treated and equally preventable if only there was more clean water in the places that really need it. This article was interesting with its mention of tourism and how important it is to the Dominican and without tourists the country would be in a terrible position. It is quite reassuring to tourists; it is quite unlikely that a tourist will get cholera so long as they are careful and make sure they know what they eat and drink.

Typhoid Fever

Typhoid outbreak blamed on fruit. By: Mike Stobbe
A few months ago there was an outbreak of typhoid fever in the western United States. The food company Goya of Seacaucus, N. J. sent out contaminated mamey fruit pulp. The pulp was contaminated with the bacteria Salmonella typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever and it can be cured with antibiotics. Typhoid fever can be extremely dangerous. In the United States it is uncommon, with less than 400 cases a year. The CDC says that most of the cases that appear in the United States are in people who travel abroad. The symptoms of typhoid fever are similar to the flu, with a fever of about 104 degrees, stomach aches, headaches, and weakness and potentially a flat pinkish red rash. The bacteria is in the digestive system so it is spread through feces. Typhoid fever is spread through water that is contaminated with the feces of another sick person. What happened with Goya was that the mamey fruit pulp was sold to people who made smoothies with them and they became ill. There were seven people infected from ages 4 to 31.

One connection to epidemic disease is that it is a disease that is not prevalent in the United States but it is still a problem in other parts of the world, especially in places without access to clean water or sanitation systems. Typhoid fever is similar to cholera in that way because they are both spread through contaminated water and they are prevalent in similar places. I thought that the article was informative and it gave a lot of information in an organized way. The article allowed me to learn about a new epidemic disease that we have not studied in class.

http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/08/13/typhoid_outbreak_blamed_on_fruit/

A Disease Controlled By Politics

Malaria: A Disease Close To Eradication Grows, Aided by Political Tumult in Sri Lanka by Donald G. McNeil Jr. from the New York Times is an article on how the People of Sri Lanka hoped to Eradicate Malaria from the country. Malaria is a mosquito spread disease from a parasite that causes severe fever and flu-like symptoms that can be fatal if left untreated. Sri Lanka is located on an island, which would make the eradication possible. They have come close to it in the past, but, when DDT, an insecticide, was no longer used, the number of Malaria cases shot back up because the mosquitoes were not being killed. “By 1969, there were more than 500,000 cases.” The increase was very dramatic going from 18 to 500,000. Since then, the country has gone through a civil war, all through which Malaria persisted. However by 2005 the country was at less than 2,000 cases. In 2009, last year, political issued resolved and there is hope for Eradication when more clinics are opened, as said by a ministry official.

The article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/health/28global.html?ref=health

Although it is great that people are trying to Eradicate Malaria its sad how, as the article points out, “politics affects the disease more than climate or public health measures do.” Malaria in Sri Lanka has been from being at one million annual cases, down to 18 cases, all the way back up to 500,000 cases. The change in cases of Malaria is being controlled by the political situation of Sri Lanka. This case is unlike most we have dealt with in this class because usually it is the climate or the public health that controls the outbreak rate of a disease. This case deals with politics. It’s not right that the politicians control the spread of the disease. When Malaria was almost eradicated with 18 cases remaining, the government stopped spreading insecticides such as DDT, which caused the cases to rise dramatically. The conflicts or wars are keeping treatment from happening. Hopefully now that the political situation in Sri Lanka is sound, the Malaria cases can be decreased and eradicated.

Swine flu makes a comeback in a ‘children’s epidemic’

Britain is struggling to fight swine flu and with the holidays ending and school returning the number of infected patients are predicted to peak. Even after the epidemic last year, it was predicted to hit hard again this year. The NHS was prepared with vaccine but it came quickly this fall. Now Britain “has done to little too late to tackle the flu.” With school returning the breading grounds of the virus are reopen causing doctors to predict the spike in numbers. Half of the intensive care beds are currently occupied by swine flu patients and “international evidence suggests that up to 15 per cent of those treated for swine flu in intensive care die.” This evidence supports the theory that 100 out of the 738 swine flu patients in Britain hospitals could die. The virus is being found more likely in children under four years of age, and as “ the figures rise to 184 cases per 100,000” it is suspected to rise to 200 cases per 100,000 people which is classified as an epidemic. The news of the outbreak was found in Fiona Macrae’s article “Schools put on swine flu alert: As Christmas holidays end, doctors warn of a ‘children’s epidemic’” posted on January 2, 2011 on Google news. Macrae’s article can also be accessed on: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343544/Schools-swine-flu-alert-As-Christmas-holidays-end-doctors-warn-childrens-epidemic.html

Britain’s outbreak of swine flu may come to many people in the US as a surprise. The US was part of the epidemic last year, but locally there have not been many recent cases of swine flu here. Most people who received the seasonal flu vaccine were lucky enough to have the swine flu vaccine in it. Britain was not so lucky in that way because they did not get their supply of vaccine out in time for the outbreak. Britain’s vaccination advertising company stopped promoting the swine flu vaccine in the fall in order to save money. It is sad how Britain did not take the epidemic serious last year and now they will be going through it again and seeing many more fatalities due to the lack of work offered in vaccinating the public.

This swine flu outbreak in Britain can be compared to smallpox in the way of distribution of vaccination causing an epidemic to continue. The history of smallpox epidemic is much different in that there were much more of a vast spread of population infected with smallpox, compared to the lack of effort of Britain. This does prove though that a virus will continue to spread until it has been brought to attention and addressed in ways of public vaccination.

All Britain can do now is educate the children going back to school about the predicted ‘children’s epidemic’ and to teach them about good hygiene to prevent the spread of germs in order to decrease the number of cases. If parents suspect their child to be ill they should keep them out of school to prevent the spread of the virus.

Hopefully Britain and the rest of the world can learn their mistake on never underestimating an epidemic.