Introduction
In March 2003, there was an outbreak of influenza-like epidemic in Asia called severe respiratory syndrome (SARS). As a result the WHO issued a global warning informing nations of this infection. This virus occurred in over 15 countries. It was discovered that it belongs to the coronovirus family (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle & Cheever, 2007).
This paper will describe in detail SARS outbreak and epidemiological indicators with data on SARS. It will analyze the route of transmission and also provide graphic representation with substantial detail of the outbreak’s international pattern of movement. This paper will also show how the outbreak could affect a community and the protocol for reporting this outbreak. It will show how to modify the patients care to address the increased risk due to poor air quality
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a type of acute pneumonia. It is caused by a virus outbreak that happened in 2003. The infection which results in serious respiratory distress and sometimes death is believed to be a member of member of coronovirus family of viruses like the same one that will cause the common cold (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle & Cheever, 2007).
This virus can spread when someone with this respiratory distress sneezes or coughs without closing their mouth, and infected droplets spreads into the air and someone else breaths it in or touches the surface with the droplet, then there is the possibility of that individual being infected with. When someone with SARS coughs or sneezes infected droplets spray into the air as a result if someone breaths in or touches the surface with the droplet, then there is the possibility of being infected. This virus can stay up to for up to 6 hours in this droplets ...
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...ow the outbreak could affect a community and the protocol for reporting this outbreak. It has also shown how to modify the patients care to address the increased risk due to poor air quality.
References
Centers for disease control and prevention. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/sars/about/index.html Corda”s World map of SARS. Retrieved from http://www.corda.com/examples/go/map/sars. Hung, S. L. (2003).The SARS epidemic in Hong Kong: Lessons we have learned, Journal of royal society of medicine 96(8)
Smeltzer, S. C., Bare., B. G., Hinkle,.J. L. & Cheever, K.H.(2007). Severe acute
Respiratory syndrome: Textbook of medical-surgical nursing, (11th ED) (pp. 2510)
. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
World health organization (2003) SARS epidemiology data. Retrieved from
www.who.int/csr/sars/epi2003_04_11/en/
The medical field is a vast land of beauty but with great beauty comes immense horror. There are many deadly viruses and diseases found in the medical field. In the novel, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, the author discusses the many deadly viruses found in the field. The viruses are widespread due to the errors that occur when the viruses are in the presence of human beings. The effects of the errors performed by the human race include a decrease in population and wildlife. The viruses are spread in many different ways in the novel, but all are due to human mistakes.
Though Health Canada knew about the spreading of an atypical pneumonia in Asia, and despite the massive arrival at Toronto airport of passengers coming from the Far East, no measures were adopted to monitor these arriving passengers or to alert the medical service about the risk of having to treat patient with the mentioned disease. (VARLEY, 2005)
She begins with the dramatic account of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), viral pandemic at the start of the 21st century which started in Southern China. The virus is intentionally carried to a lab in Hong Kong, breaks loose and jets to the rest of the world and ends up killing eight hundred people before it was finally put under control (Crawford 24). She goes ahead to taking us back to history to reveal the interconnected history of microbes and humans, giving an elaborate update at the historical epidemics and plagues. She also identifies the major changes in the way human beings have lived, citing examples such as the change of lifestyle from gathering and hunting to farmers and finally to a complex lifestyle of a city dweller. This later change to city dwelling is what Crawford says made humans vulnerable to attack by microbes. This she supports by showing how life in the city is characterized by a lot of crowding and travelling by air. Crawford poses the question whether humans might ever conquer microbes comple...
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)
A few years before 1918, in the height of the First World War, a calamity occurred that stripped the globe of at least 50 million lives. (Taubenberger, 1918) This calamity was not the death toll of the war; albeit, some individuals may argue the globalization associated with the First World War perpetuated the persistence of this calamity. This calamity was referred to the Spanish Flu of 1918, but calling this devastating pestilence the “Spanish Flu” may be a historical inaccuracy, as research and historians suggest that the likelihood of this disease originating in Spain seams greatly improbable. Despite it’s misnomer, the Spanish Flu, or its virus name H1N1, still swept across the globe passing from human to human by exhaled drops of water that contained a deadly strand of RNA wrapped with a protein casing. Individuals who were unfortunate enough to come in contact with the contents of the protein casing generally developed severe respiratory inflammation, as the Immune system’s own response towards the infected lung cells would destroy much of the lungs, thus causing the lungs to flood with fluids. Due to this flooding, pneumonia was a common cause of death for those infected with Spanish Flu. Due its genetic similarity with Avian Flu, the Spanish Flu is thought to be descended from Avian Flu which is commonly known as “Bird Flu.” (Billings,1997) The Spanish Flu of 1918 has had a larger impact in terms of global significance than any other disease has had because it was the most deadly, easily transmitted across the entire globe, and occurred in an ideal time period for a disease to happen.
Influenza, an innocent little virus that annually comes and goes, has always been a part of people’s lives. Knowing this, one would not believe that it has caused not one, not two, but three pandemics and is on its way to causing a fourth! The Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu of 1957, and the Hong Kong flu of 1968 each killed millions of people worldwide, causing mass terror. People were mad with fear, and for good reason, as friends, family, neighbors dropped dead like flies. And yet, as soon as the deaths ceased, the forgetfulness set in… until very few know about these pandemics. These pieces of history may have faded from memory, but with the upcoming threat of an avian flu which can jump from human to human, people must learn from the past to combat the future.
Ebola is contracted very much like HIV: bodily fluids such as blood, vomit, sharing needles, and sexual contact. The only difference is that Ebola can be transmitted from the close contact of an infected person, which is the most common means of infection. This is possible because the Ebola virus has cells on the infected person’s skin. For example, should you touch someone with the virus and then an opening on your body, like your mouth, you can be infected. This is why and how so many health care workers and family members are contaminated before a diagnosis is made. Ebola has an incubation period of 2-21 days depending on how one acquired the virus: direct (needle) or less direct (close contact) contact. Direct contact is far deadlier than the latter.
Swine flu is a disease that has placed a burden on humanity for many years. The virus of swine flu has a very intriguing history as well. Swine flu had originated from the first influenza pandemic in 1918. The actual swine flu virus had come from a pig in Iowa in 1931. Two years later a human strand of swine flu was found in London for the very first time. This was later followed by the Hong Kong flu pandemic in 1968 which had killed up to one million people worldwide. Many years after these pandemics had occurred, the first cases of swine flu were found in California and Texas in March of 2009. This pandemic killed 25,174 people who were infected with swine flu. A couple of months later, the United States and the United Kingdom began testing people for the swine flu and started vaccination programs. Swine flu has had a long history and has taken a large number of lives in the past with worldwide pandemics. As a result, countries like the United States started to take measures toward vaccination. The virus has many different ways of being transmitted, signs and symptoms, areas of the world it infects, and treatment plans.
The human population has a high susceptibility to the contraction of new diseases and outbreaks of these diseases are of high risk. Diseases in recent times that have broken out into the human population are the H7N9 flu strain and SARS. Despite the risk, outbreaks like H7N9 and SARS have been controlled due to epidemiology and other disease control methods. Outbreaks of disease are not uncommon to the human population as they move to new areas around the world with foreign diseases that the native residents would have developed a resistance to.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an upper respiratory infection caused by a coronavirus. The etiological agent responsible for SARS is called SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). SARS-CoV is a relatively novel mutated form of coronavirus, resulting in a virus capable of becoming infectious in a human host. Typically, coronaviruses express themselves much like a common cold. However, SARS-CoV can cause complications uncommon in other coronavirus strains. A host infected with SARS-CoV may develop additional infections, like pneumonia or respiratory failure6,7. According to the World Health Organization (WHO),37 SARS-CoV presents itself as an atypical cold but with similar symptoms, resulting in a virulent pathogen
The “Aussie flu”, an Australian influenza virus, has made headlines on media worldwide. It is suggested that the Australian strain has spread to other countries, which has led to criticism of Australia’s Public Health policies. Although, is it possible to identify a strain’s source? If so, how did this “Aussie flu” become so harmful, could it have been prevented? The media is comparing this year’s flu outbreak to the 1968 Hong Kong flu, is it really the next flu pandemic? Influenza viruses are ever evolving and resisting to antibiotic treatment. This is a Global Health issue, particularly making an impact in Australia.
The Geography of disease is a fascinating topic to learn about simply because the possibilities of researching various diseases world wide and locally are endless. Each disease is unique in its own way and they greatly impact citizens both positivey and negatively. As a group, we researched upon multiple diseases including: Cholera, Rubella, Asthma, Lyme Disease, Avian Flu (also referred to as Bird's Flu), Hantavirus and three forms of Hepatitis (A,B,C).
Murray, M.2006. The epidemiology of SARS. In SARS in China: Prelude to pandemic?, ed. A. Kleinman and J. Watson, 17-30. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.
Throughout human history disease has been linked to many facets of life and even the rise and fall of entire civilizations. Biological, social, political and economic forces have all influenced how the outbreak of disease is handled. Epidemics have altered history in how they have developed and the impact that they have had. In turn, epidemic management has been influenced by history and governments as humans have learned to cope with outbreaks and the social and political implications that result from them. Today, biomedical engineers, politicians, historians and social scientists are leading the battle in an attempt to understand and combat infectious diseases. This report will explore epidemic management and its historical relationship with the international political system. Issues will be investigated that range from the societal effects of epidemics, to observing today’s public policy debates regarding outbreaks to the possible reduction or even dissolution of conflict in exchange for food and medical technology between nations. Research has made it abundantly clear that humans must be vigilant in combating epidemics. By drawing on multiple disciplines, it is possible to implement a sound disease management plan that will control and reduce the spreading and mortality of infectious agents across the globe, as well as reduce tension and conflict between the developed and developing worlds.
World Health Organization “Frequently Asked Questions on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),” Communicable Disease Surveillance & Response (CSR), March 24. (2003). World Health Organization . Retrieved March 29, 2004.