Emerging Infectious Disease example essay topic

Name: Terre an Robinson ID#: 28990809 Course: Microbiology Describe the major emerging and reemerging pathogens and disease (since 1980) and the consequence of these for healthcare system. (Include epi. &mechanism for origin of diseases) There are several emerging and reemerging diseases since the 1980. Emerging infectious disease results from newly identified and previously unknown infections, which cause public health problems locally and internationally. An emerging disease can be cause by a virus, a bacterium, a fungus, a protozoan and a helminth. Emerging disease associated with viruses since the 1980 are T-cell lymphoma-leukemia, Toxic shock syndrome, Heamhorrhagic colitis; urea mic syndrome, Hairy cell leukemia, lyme disease, AIDS, Peptic ulcer disease, Venezuelan haemorrhagic fever, Conjunctivitis, disseminated disease, cholera, Cat scratch disease; bacillary, Brazilian hemorrhagic fever, Hepatitis, New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Influenza.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first isolated in 1983. It is estimated that since the start of the epidemic 30.6 million people worldwide have become HIV infected and nearly 12 million have died from AIDS or AIDS-related diseases. Hepatitis C, identified in 1989, is now known to be the most common cause of post-transfusion hepatitis worldwide, with approximately 90 per cent of cases in Japan, the United States and Western Europe. Up to 3 per cent of the world population is estimated to be infected; 170 million are chronic carriers at risk of developing liver cirrhosis and / or liver cancer. Sin (i. e., an unnamed) virus was isolated from cases of a local outbreak of a highly fatal respiratory disease.

This was done in the southern United States in 1993. It has subsequently been diagnosed in sporadic cases across the United States, Canada and several South American countries. Influenza A (H 5 N 1) virus is a well-known pathogen in birds, but was first isolated from humans in 1997. Its emergence initially suggested the next influenza pandemic but, in the event, the virus transmitted poorly and the spread of the virus appeared to have been contained in 1997. There are also some emerging diseases that are associated with bacteria these include: Legionella, Escherichilia coli, Borel lia, Vibrio. Legionella pneumo philia was detected in 1977.

The bacterium resulted in an outbreak of severe pneumonia in a convention center in the United States in 1976 and it has since been associated with outbreaks linked to poorly maintained air conditioning systems. Escherichia coli O 157: H 7: Detected in 1982, this bacterium is typically transmitted through contaminated food and has caused outbreaks of uremic syndrome in North America, Europe and Japan. A widespread outbreak in Japan in 1996 caused over 6,000 cases among school children, among which 2 died. During a single outbreak in Scotland in 1996,496 people fell ill, of whom 16 died. Borrelia: Detected in the United States in 1982 and identified as the cause of Lyme disease, this bacterium is known to be endemic in North America and Europe and is transmitted to humans by ticks. Vibrio cholera e O 139: First detected in 1992 in India, this bacterium has since been reported in seven countries in Asia.

The emergence of a new sero type permits the organism to continue to spread and cause disease even in populations protected by antibodies generated in response to previous exposure to other sero types of the same organism. Reemerging infectious diseases on the other hand are due to the reappearance of, and the increase in the number of infections from a disease, which is known. Examples of reemerging infectious disease are Cholera, Dengue fever, Diphtheria, Meningococcal meningitis, Rift Valley fever and Yellow fever. These diseases have severe consequences on the healthcare system.

On health issue is the rapidly growing number of bacteria becoming resistant to an increasing range of antibiotics. This is as a result of the widespread and sometimes warranted use of antibiotics and pesticides. In many regions, the low-cost, first-choice antibiotics have lost their power to clear infections of Escherichia coli, Neisseria gonorrhoea, Pneumococcus, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, increasing the cost and length of treatment of many common diseases, including epidemic diarrhea diseases, gonorrhoea, pneumonia and otitis. Another consequence of emerging and reemerging disease on the health system is lack of finance to meet the health needs of the population. There's also the unavailability of effective tools to prevent and control the outbreaks even to treat, if not vanquish, the diseases.

The health system therefore has to now improve surveillance and control of communicable diseases. This is done by promptly detecting re-emerging diseases and identifying new infectious disease Work Cited web J. eta l Microbiology an Introduction 6th ed. Benjamin / Cummings Publishing 1988.