Cold and Flu season has begun, the line in the snow has been drawn and it's here folks. The Cold and Flu has rounded up its troops and declared an all out war on the family! We've all been at battle with a cold or flu and most times, it's not until you're ugly crying on the bathroom floor, you've hit rock bottom, and your nose is so red you'd give Rudolph a run for his money, that you admit defeat!
Well at this point, I can almost guarantee that it didn't start at you, you're on the receiving end of a contagious disgusting cold or flu that has grown in size and momentum with each member of the family that it has been so generously shared with.
Our ever so kind and generous oldest daughter who since being back at school is like a walking germ factory brought the last
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He's the everything, that last resort! This bad boy will assist in the demise of this of battle. Welcome the Nose Frieda- The grossest and best invention ever! As often as I can hear my mother yelling "BLOW YOUR NOSE" I hear it when my baby is suffering from rattling boogers and cannot blow her nose. We've all seen those awful nasal aspirators you stick in the babies nose, well those hurt especially when baby is ripping her head away to avoid it. This product forms a seal with the outside of the baby's nostril (creating a vacuum). Parent-powered (mouth) suction is much stronger and more effective than the static suction of the bulb or battery-powered aspirators. NoseFrida is also easy to clean
Those 4 items alone in the harsh battles of colds and flu's are enough to knock that cold dead but, in all seriousness, sometimes we do need to take harsher measures for the worst of the worst so please make sure you consult your doctor before use of certain products on your child. The health nurse hotline is always a good place to start to ease your mind and ask questions. Worse comes to worse nothing like good Hot Toddy at the end of the day.. for YOU not the
It became apparent in 1918 during a flu epidemic that certain traits were lacking in the scientific community necessary to research for a cure. In a passage from The Great Influenza, John M. Barry implements exemplification, diction, and didactic figurative language in order to depict the works of a scientist and the common obstacles encountered. Barry also characterizes scientists as those who possess the traits needed to accomplish their goals.
A brief review of the historical year of 1918 when people were informed to take precaution against influenza, while their children came up with a catchy tune for the "worst epidemic the United States has ever known"1 and comparing it with the influenza of today.
John. M. Barry, The Great Influenza, The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History (New York: Penguin, 2004), 179
Tuberculosis or TB is an airborn infection caused by inhaled droplets that contain mycobacterium tuberculosis. When infected, the body will initiate a cell-mediated hypersensitivity response which leads to formation of lesion or cavity and positive reaction to tuberculin skin test (Kaufman, 2011). People who have been infected with mycobacteria will have a positive skin test, but only ones who have active TB will show signs and symtoms. Basic signs and symptoms include low grade fever, cough with hemoptysis, and tachypnea. They may also show pleuristic chest pain, dyspnea, progressive weight loss, fatigue and malaise (Porth, 2011).
The Influenza virus is a unique respiratory viral disease that can have serious economic and social disruption to society. The virus is airborne transmitted through droplets release by coughing or sneezing from an infected person or by touching infected surfaces. Symptoms range from mild to severe and may even result in death. People with the virus usually experience fever, headache, shivering, muscle pain and cough, which can lead to more severe respiratory illness such as pneumonia. People most susceptible to the flu virus are elderly individuals and young children as well as anyone whose health or immune system has been compromise. The most effective way to counteract the influenza virus is to get the flu vaccine which is available by shots or nasal spray before the flu season as well as practicing safe hygiene. (CDC, 2013)
“I overpowered the child’s neck and jaws and forced the heavy silver spoon down her throat until she gagged” the doctor describes. Then he sees that the tonsils are covered in a membrane. This is the last piece of evidence that the doctor needed to confirm that this child does in fact have diphtheria. She was trying to hide it from them all along. The doctor’s mission was a success. All that the girl needs now is proper treatment and the doctor can go home and enjoy the fact that he has saved another life today.
Asthma is the leading cause of hospital admissions during childhood. Kumar and Robbins give an accurate definition of asthma as “a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that causes recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and cough, particularly at night and/or early in the morning” (489). Asthma is a terrifying disease, especially in children, because of the sudden attacks that could claim lives if not treated immediately and effectively. Despite recent advancements in available drugs and overall therapy, the incidence of childhood asthma is rising (Dolovich 373). In order to effectively treat and eventually prevent the onset of asthma, more effective and economical therapies are necessary; although current knowledge has already led to breakthroughs in new drug treatments, the rising incidence rate calls for more. Therefore, to advance the effectiveness of asthma therapies, researchers must first look at the changes caused by the disease, the risk factors that cause or exacerbate it, and lastly understand the mechanisms of the current drugs.
From the Chelsea Naval Hospital, overlooking the Boston Bay, I sip on a cup of Joe and browse over the Sports Section of the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this month, three Bostonians dropped dead from influenza. In examining the extent of the epidemic, Surgeon-General Blue commented to the Times , "People are stricken on the streets, while at work in factories, shipyards, offices or elsewhere. First there is a chill, then fever with temperature from 101 to 103, headache, backache, reddening and running of the eyes, pains and aches all over the body, and general prostration." I gaze out my window, the sun seems brighter than usual and the town more radiant. It must be the victory, for the threat of death due to influenza is pervasive. Outside, children jump rope. With every skip of the jump rope they chant. "I had a little bird." Skip. "Its name was Enza." Skip. "I opened up the window." Skip. "And in-flu-enza."
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 occurred during the midst of World War I, and it would claim more lives than the war itself. The disease erupted suddenly without a forewarning and spread rapidly across the globe. It seemed as though all of humanity had fallen under the mercy of this deadly illness. Influenza had very clear symptoms as described by William Collier in his letter to The Lancet. After a patient seizes their temperature can run up to 105° or more while their pulse averages at about 90 beats per minute. The high temperature and low pulse are frequently combined with epistaxis (nosebleed) and cyanosis (blueness of the skin). The epistaxis is caused by the high temperature and the cyanosis is caused by a lack of oxygen due to the decreased pulse (Kent 34). The author of Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919, Susan Kinglsey Kent, provides a brief history of the pandemic and documents from the time period. Many of the included documents show how unprepared and unorganized governments attempted to contain and control a disease they had never experienced, and how the expectations of the governments changed as a result of their successes and failures.
These pieces of history may have faded from memory, but with the upcoming threat of an avian flu that can jump from human to human, people must learn from the past to combat the future. From the time of its first recorded incident in 412 BC (Adams 1) to 1918, influenza was never taken seriously. With symptoms similar to the common cold, most people disregarded influenza as a minor illness, nothing more. As Lynette Iezzoni quoted in her book, Influenza 1918, influenza was thought to be “quite a Godsend! Everybody ill, nobody dying” besides the very old and feeble (16).
In the fall of 1918 influenza appeared for the first time in pockets across the globe. At first it was pushed aside as a case of the common cold. The influenza of that season, however, was far more than a cold. In the two years that this scourge ravaged the earth, a fifth of the world's population was infected. (1) Including twenty-eight percent of all Americans. In those two years an estimated six hundred and seventy-five thousand Americans died because of influenza. This was the greatest scare Americans had ever seen from a single disease. People between the age of twenty and forty were at the greatest risk of infection. Even President Woodrow Wilson suffered from the flu in early 1919 while negotiating the crucial treaty of Versailles to end the World War. The public health departments distributed gauze masks to be worn in public. Stores could not hold sales; funerals were limited to 15 minutes. Some towns required a signed certificate to enter and railroads would not accept passengers without them. (1) Influenza had killed nearly as many American servicemen as died in battle, ten times and over that number of American civilians, and twice as many people in the world as died in combat on all fronts in the entire four...
“Seasonal Influenza-Associated Hospitalization in the United States.” USA.gov, 24 June 2011. Web. 31 Jan. 2012
As the seasons change and winter switches into spring, allergens fill the air. During this time of year, many people who have occasional hypersensitivities to pollen and dust begin to experience the uncomfortable and irritating hacking and wheezing that accompanies the change of season. Another issue that happens when winter rolls around again is the constant use of stuffy, drying indoor heating. Coughing and wheezing throughout the day are irritating, but it’s easy to take a cough medicine or pop a cough drop. Coughing while you’re attempting to rest is even more bothersome.
The swine influenza or swine flu is a respiratory disease in pigs that is caused by the type A influenza viruses. These viruses are referred to as swine flu viruses but scientifically the main virus is called the swine triple reassortant (tr) H1N1 influenza virus. When the viruses infect humans they are called variant viruses. This infection has been caused in humans mainly by the H1N1v virus in the United States. The H1N1 virus originates in animals due to improper conditions and the food they ingest. The virus stays in latency form, thus harmless to the respective animal. The longer the animals survive the more likely the virus is to develop and strengthen making it immune to vaccines. The virus reproduced through the lytic cycle. The virus injects its own nucleic acids into a host cell and then they form a circle in the center of the cell. Rather than copying its own nucleic acids, the cell will copy the viral acids. The copies of viral acids then organize themselves as viruses inside of the cell. The membrane will eventually split leaving the viruses free to infect other cells.
The Flu is the common name influenza which is a virus that attacks the respiratory system. The flu virus releases its genetic information into the cells nucleus to replicate itself. When the cell dies, those copies are released and they affect other cells throughout the rest of the body. With that happening the virus weakens the immune system. When your sick with the flu, your body builds up a defense by making antibodies against it. The flu virus spreads through air when a person coughs, sneezes, or speaks.