1- Discuss the social and ecological factors that shape the health status of the population affected by onchocerciasis.
Ecological factors
As the black fly is the vector transmitting onchocerciasis, the ecological factors are closely related to the living habits of black flies.
Oxygenated, Flowing water
Most female black flies lay eggs in or near the fast-flowing rivers and streams. After taking once human blood, female can develop a single batch of 200-500 eggs (Purdue University, 2008). In Africa, the water level will rise and the water movement will increase during summer days, this condition accounts for the ideal breeding habitat for black flies.
Climate
Black flies live in place with typical hot (sometimes warm) and humid tropical weather, which also explains why large-scale onchocerciasis endemics usually take place in tropical areas of Africa and Central America. If the temperature is too low for black flies to survive, they can
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Poverty always contributes to problems in people’s health and well-being. According to the video we watched in class, many Africans live in poor housing and sanitary conditions. The houses are mostly made of grass and stones, without door or window net. This will create opportunities for the blackflies to easily enter the houses, thus increase the risk of onchocerciasis infection. In terms of sanitation, people in these African countries usually have limited access to clean and portable water in their houses, so they sometimes go to the river to directly drink and use the water there. As black flies (i.e. the vector of the onchocerciasis) feeds near the river during the day, the people who regularly use the river water are at higher risk for disease infection; these flies will bite the skin and extract the blood from the persons who are near the river, in turn to deposit Onchocerca infective larvae into the skin and to infect these
We had received 2 cultured bottles and added a few grains of yeast and some cool water. We had received wild type flies to sex and had to set up crosses with them. After anaesthetic that we used to put them to sleep, we emptied them onto a piece of white paper and viewed them under a dissecting microscope one by one to determine their individual sexes. We then had set up a vial with 5 wild type males and one female, checking the vial periodically for any change. Our next step was to make up a vial of mutants. Once both vial were set up, all we had to do is wait for an appearance of eggs or larvae. By the completion of week 2, we started to see larvae, which meant that we had to take the initial flies out so not to disturb our counts. We had discarded the females and put the wild type and mutant males into new vials. The bottles were checked periodically for the formation of females.
Many of these diseases originate from animal populations. Humans’ interaction with the environment, and animals contribute to the rate and prevalence of disease. All three areas are interconnected. One Health is a concept that views human, animal, and environmental health as one area of health. The three entities, when separated can hinder each other and delay progress. The opposite is also true. When public health officials recognize the correlation between human, animal, and environmental health, advancements and innovation can occur. Other public health issues are present in relation to spread of infectious disease between humans and animals. People must know how to cook animal products in order to kill pathogens. Many diseases are also transferred when humans disrupt ecosystems. These are areas where public health has the opportunity to make progress. The issues that infectious diseases cause occur across the globe. In addition, One Health concepts can be applied to populations all over the
Gbakima, A. A., et al. "High prevalence of bedbugs Cimex hemipterus and Cimex lectularis in camps for internally displaced persons in Freetown, Sierra Leone: a pilot humanitarian investigation." West African journal of medicine21.4 (2002): 268-271.
Fun fact: There was a false legend of how the disease infected Kaffa. The legend says that the Mongolians piled up dead infected bodies into catapults and flung them over the city walls. Although flying dead bodies paints a more interesting picture in your mind, it is in fact much more credible that the disease came from bacteria harboring in the bellies of fleas (Black Plague: The Least You Need to Know.).
Today, it's primarily affecting those in Africa due to the high rat populations and the poor hygiene practice.
There are three elements under environment, which are physical, psycho-social, and economic. Health issues do and can arise from environmental factors. Those living in a third world country have limited access to hospitals and care. Despite the age, young or old, people lose their lives because they didn’t have the resources to help them. And in the other hand, those that live in a country where they have access to hospitals and care,
The Black Death originated in Asia and spread to Europe, possibly going through Persia to reach Asia Minor, and making its way across the Mediterranean. The Byzantine Empire, the Mongol Empire, and Turkestan were also infected. The Plague swept through parts of Arabia, Armenia, North Africa, Bavaria, England, France, Italy, and Poland. However, the Saharan Desert was spared (Document 1).
The main approach of the social determinant of health is how the society provides the economic and social resources to their population in order to improve public policies and health. The social determinant of health has introduced in the mid of 19th century in which the living conditions of the society were the main factors of health (Engels, 1845/1947; Virchow, 1848/1985).After this research there was a number of studies that have proved that the people who are exposed to their social and physical conditions in their homes, workplaces and communities are more significant towards their health than their living conditions such as the usage of tobacco or too much intake of alcohol, eating fruits or vegetables and daily
Journal of Public Health. Vol. 70, No. 4, Apr. 1980, pp. 348-351. EBSCOhost. 2017 October 25.
The most common sites of malaria-carrying mosquitoes is in tropical and subtropical areas with warm climates. Also, there must be a source of water, such as a lake, ocean, or stream, because this is where the mosquitoes breed. While Africa is the site of most malaria cases, there are a few other countries that account for some of the malaria cases. In fact, in 1990, seventy-five percent of all recorded malaria cases outside Africa were condensed in nine countries, which were India, Brazil, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and China. There was once a small malaria epidemic in the United States. It occurred mainly in Army families. This was because U.S. troops in other countries were not on the proper medication, contracted the disease, and brought it back to the United States.
Essential to everyday life is the significant condition of our health. Our health can be affected by a number of elements, including our nutrition. In addition, health can also be affected by social determinants such as transportation, social economic status, early life, work, social support, food security and education. (Wilkinson, R.; Marmot, M. 2003) Case studies would be analysed and compare how the social determinants of health have been involved in the manifestation of the health complications. Also how these social determinants have affected the ability of the person access services and manage the health problems
By the year 2000, 58 million people have been infected by HIV/AIDS and alarming numbers such as 22 million would have already died. And the epidemic continues to spread. HIV/AIDS historically is considered to be one of the longest running worldwide epidemics that we have ever seen, and figures cannot be placed on the true death tolls or estimation of the damage as the cycle still is yet to reach an end (Whiteside 2002). With Africa being the worst hit continent in the world in terms of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the severity of it’s prevalence; one can only begin to question whether HIV/AIDS and poverty and directly connected or the inter-linkages exacerbate one or the other. This paper aims to argue that HIV/AIDS is a manifestation of poverty, and simultaneously poverty contributes to growing HIV/AIDS epidemic. Development in response both to poverty reduction and to HIV/AIDS is complicated when both have multi-dimensional and multi-faceted impacts on a society, whether it be social, economic or human development impacts. This paper will argue that pre-existing socio economic conditions within a country such as high levels of poverty, poor sanitation, malnutrition, environmental degradation and poor public healthcare systems and limited access to preventative care are crucial factors in contributing to the transfer of the infection (Pasteur: 2000, Mann: 1999).
Nearly 50,000 people, including 30,000 children, die each day due to poverty-related problems and preventable disease in underdeveloped Countries. That doesn’t include the other millions of people who are infected with AIDS and other incurable diseases. Especially those living in Sub-Saharan Africa (70%), or “the Third-World,” and while we fight to finish our homework, children in Africa fight to survive without food, or clean water. During the next few paragraphs I will give proof that poverty and disease are the two greatest challenges facing under developed countries.
Poverty is the root cause of hunger, disease, and lack of shelter. It is concentrated in pockets in areas such as South Africa and South Asia. Children, who must live in these areas, face, on a daily basis, parasitic waters, lack of adequate medical help and malnutrition.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The objectives of this essay is to identify and address the global health issues as whole including causes of these issues and impact of these issues. Also it is aim to address the preventive measures to reduce the global issues and report the methods for global health issues identified and understand the global health priorities with regards to major health issues throughout the world.