Chicken Pox
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Monday, 08 February 10 - 03:05 PM (GMT) By Eric M. Smith in Chicken Pox |
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Symptoms and course
Incubation period in average lasts 13-17 days. The disease starts with high temperature and appearing of rash on different parts of the body. At the beginning these are red spots having 2-4 mm in diameter which during several hours become pimples and then vesicles – blisters filled with clear fluid surrounded by aureole of blushes. At the spots of burst vesicles appear dark red and brown crusts which fall away in 2-3 weeks.
On some skin areas you may find spots, vesicles, pimples and crusts all together. On mucus membrane of respiratory tracts (throat, gorge, trachea) may appear enanthema - these are blisters which quickly turn into sores with yellow and grayish bottom surrounded by red line. Period of fever lasts 2-5 days. The course of the disease generally is good, but there can occur severe forms and complications: encephalitis, myocarditis, pneumonia, catarrhal croup and different forms of pyoderma.
Recognition
Is made on the basis of typical rhythm of rash development. Laboratory analysis allow to detect virus with the help of optical microscope and immunofluorescence method.
Treatment
There is no specific and etiotropic treatment for chicken pox. It is recommended to stay in the bed and to keep hands clean. Rash elements you should smear with 5% potassium permanganat solution or with 1% brilliant green solution. When patients has a severe form of chicken pox, then may be injected immunoglobulin. In case of festering complications (apostem, etc) antibiotics are prescribed.
Preventive measures
The best thing to do is to isolate the diseased person. Children who were in contact with diseased person should stay at home from school and children's institutions for 21 days. Weak children who never were diseased with chicken pox, should get immunoglobulin injections in order to prevent chicken pox.
Pneumonia
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Tuesday, 12 January 10 - 02:52 PM (GMT) By Eric M. Smith in Pneumonia |
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Pneumonia or inflammation of lungs usually starts with contagious disease of upper respiratory tract. It may be a complication after past diseases such as bronchitis, influenza, sore throat, ARVI (acute respiratory viral infection). As a rule, this happens when patient ignores bed regime and has the illness on the move. However, lasting lying may cause the development of congestive pneumonia which appears as a result of lasting bed regime after past fractures, serious operations or heart failure. Besides typical pneumonia, specialists define atypical ones. Their causative agents are viruses or rare microorganisms, for example, clamydia carried by birds.
Agents and ways of transmission
Pneumonia is a multifaced disease. This is not true. In pneumonia symptoms are alike but agents are different. Pneumonia may be caused by microbes (pneumococcus, staphylococcus, streptococcus, Klebsiella), by rods (intestinal bacterium, Proteus, Haemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas Aureginosa, legionella, plague bacillus), and also by viruses (mycoplasma), and fungus (clamydia).
Extremely virulent are cases when occurs simultaneous infection of a human by viruses and bacteria. Frequently this happens on the back of dysimmunity. Often pneumonia may be a cause of allergic reactions in lungs or manifestation of systematic disease.
How infecting occurs?
When a person suffers from chronic bronchitis or he just has ARVI (acute respiratory viral infection) in his upper respiratory tracts, hydropic fluid develops and it flows in lungs in form of mucus. These are ideal conditions for generation of bacteria which do penetrate into pulmonary tissue from the environment via bronchi. However, bacteria may also penetrate via blood and lymph.
Symptoms
Acute sudden onset of the disease, which is connected with hypothermia. Temperature of the body is higher than 38C and is kept for more than three days.
Signs of intoxication: pallescence, greyish tint of skin, apathy, sleeping disorders and eating disorders. Often a patient suffers from shortness of breath, wet cough, and in case of severe pneumonia he has grunting breathing. Children may have posseting and vomit.
Diagnostics
Doctor may detect pneumonia during examination of the patient by lung listening. Additional methods of examination will show changes in the blood analysis and those changes do bear inflammatory character (neutrophilia, blood sedimentation rate increase). Changes in the lungs are clearly visible on the X-Ray image.
Preventive Measures
For fear of getting ill with pneumonia it is necessary to treat cold-related diseases timely, live a healthy lifestyle, fortify yourself against colds and quit smoking. It is important to follow rules of hygiene especially during ARVI.
Treatment
Pneumonia is treated in the hospital or at home under condition of permanent control over patient's state. Frequently, antibiotics and expected treatment (antifebrile, expectorant, antihistaminic) are prescribed. Along with medications, doctors may prescribe respiratory gymnastics, capsicum plaster, mustard plaster, inhalation. You should not stop taking antibiotics even if you feel well. Remember that acute infection may turn into chronic form and bacteria causing pneumonia may get persistence to the medication.
Risk factors
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smoking
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violation of oral hygiene
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frequent contact with birds
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past acute respiratory infection on feet
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lowering of body defenses
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staying for along time in prone position
Typhoid Fever
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Tuesday, 24 November 09 - 02:37 PM (GMT) By Eric M. Smith in Typhoid fever |
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Typhoid fever is an acute contagious disease associated with bacteria of the genius Salmonella. The agent can be kept in the ground and in the water from 1 to 15 months. It dies when healed and under the action of the usual detergents.
The only source of incidence is infected person and the carrier. The rods of Typhoid fever are transmitted directly by dirty hands, flies, waste waters. Most dangerous are outbreaks connected with taking infected foods (milk, cold meat, etc).
Symptoms and course
Incubation period lasts from 1 to 3 weeks. In typical cases the Typhoid fever starts gradually. The diseased experience such symptoms as weakness, rapid fatigability, moderate headache. In the next days those symptoms do increase, the temperature of the body raises up to 39-40 "ะก, appetite do lowers or totally disappears, the sleep is interrupted (sleepiness by day and insomnia by night). Also patient can have stool retention and windiness. Till 7-9 day of the disease rush may appear on the upper parts of abdomen skin or on lower parts of the chest. The rush is represented by small red spots with sharp edge having diameter 23mm rising over skin surface and are called roseolas.
A new roseola may appear in the place where a roseola disappeared. The next symptoms are common for patients: restraint, face paleness, decrease in heart rate, lower blood pressure. Also may appear specific bronchitis. The tongue may be dry and cracky, covered with muddy brown fur, edges and tip of the tongue having no fur. Also may appear rude curmurring of the intestinum cecum and pain of right iliac region, liver and spleen may get increased. The number of leukocytes in peripheral blood is lowered.
To recognize the Typhoid fever is very important to detect early symptoms such as high body temperature lasting more than one week, headache, lowering of physical activity, breakdown, sleeping disorders, appetite disorders, specific rush, sensitivity during palpation of the right part of the abdomen, the increase of the liver and spleen. In laboratory are used next analysis for diagnosis updating: immunofluorescence method and serologic testing.
Treatment
For the treatment is used antimicrobial agent called laevomycetin which is prescribed 0,5-0,75gr 4 times per day for 10-12 days. Intravenous is injected 5% glucose solution or normal saline 500-1000gr. In severe cases are injected corticosteroids. Patients should remain at bed rest minimum 7-10 days.
Preventive Measures
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sanitary inspection of food processors, water systems, canalization
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early detection of patients and their isolation
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disinfection of rooms, clothes, utensils
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fight with flies
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after disease dispensary observation
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specific vaccination
Brucellosis
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Tuesday, 27 October 09 - 01:30 PM (GMT) By Eric M. Smith in Brucellosis |
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All people, regardless of risk status, should be monitored for the development of symptoms. From the last exposure, temperature should be actively monitored for fever for four weeks. Broader symptoms of brucellosis should be passively monitored for six months from the last exposure. These symptoms include:
* Acutely: fever, chills, headache, low back pain, joint pain, malaise, occasionally diarrhea
* Sub-acutely: malaise, muscle pain, headache, neck pain, fever, sweats
* Chronically: anorexia, weight loss, abdominal pain, joint pain, headache, backache, weakness, irritability, insomnia, depression, constipation.
Humans are infected in one of three ways:
1. eating or drinking something that is contaminated with Brucella
2. breathing in the organism
3. having the bacteria enter the body through skin wounds
The most common way to be infected is by eating or drinking contaminated milk products. When sheep, goats, cows, camels are infected, their milk is contaminated with the bacteria. If the milk is not pasteurized, these bacteria can be transmitted to persons who drink the milk or eat cheeses made it.
Inhalation of Brucella organisms is not a common route of infection, but it can be a significant hazard for people working in laboratories where the organism is cultured. Inhalation is often responsible for a significant percentage of cases in abattoir employees. Contamination of skin wounds may be a problem for people working in slaughterhouses or meat packing plants or for veterinarians.
Direct person-to-person spread of brucellosis is rare. Mothers who are breast-feeding may transmit the infection to their babes. Sexual transmission has also been reported. For both sexual and breast-feeding transmission, if the baby or person at risk is treated for brucellosis, their risk of becoming infected will be eliminated within three days. Transmission may also occur via contaminated tissue transplantation.
Preventive Measures
Do not consume unpasteurized milk, cheese, ice cream while traveling. If you are not sure that the dairy product is pasteurized, don't eat it. Hunters should use rubber gloves when handling viscera of animals. There is no vaccine available for humans.
Treatment
The treatment can be difficult. Doctors can prescribe effective antibiotics. Doxycycline and rifampin are used in combination for 6 weeks to prevent reoccuring infection. Depending on the timing of treatment and severity of illness, recovery may take a few weeks to several months. Mortality is low and is associated with endocarditis.
Botulism
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Friday, 21 August 09 - 03:00 PM (GMT) By Eric M. Smith in Botulism |
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Symptoms and course
Incubation period lasts from 2-3 hours up to 1-2 days. Primary symptoms: common weakness, insignificant headache. Vomit and diarrhea occur rarely, more often occur intractable constipations reluctant to enema and lapactic actions. Botulism affects nervous system (usually occur vision disorders, change of voice). Patient may see everything like in mist, he has enlarged pupils, moreover, one pupil larger than other. Often strabism and ptosis (the omission of superior eyelid of one eye) occur. Sometimes occurs the lack of accommodation - the pupillary response to the light. Other symptoms are dry mouth, small voice, unarticulated speech.
Body temperature is normal or a little bit increased (37,2-37,3C), consciousness is kept. When occurs increase of intoxication connected with spore germination in intestinal tract of a patient, the eye symptoms may grow, appear swallowing disorders (falling of palate). Heart sounds become hollow, pulse is slow in the beginning and then it quickens, blood pressure is lowering. Death can come after respiratory paralysis occurred.
Recognition
Is based on making anamnesis – the connection of disease appearing with consumption of a particular product and progression of the same symptoms in people who were taken the same product. At early stages of the disease it is necessary to make difference between botulism and toxication with poisonous mushrooms, methyl alcohol, atropine. It is necessary to perform poliomyelitis bulbar form differential diagnosis by using data about eyes symptoms and body temperature (poliomyelitis gives a significant temperature increase). The diagnosis confirms detection of ectotoxins in blood and urine.
Treatment
First aid is saline purge (for example, magnesium sulphate), vegetable oil to fix toxins, stomach lavage with 5% sodium hydrogencarbonate solution (cooking soda). And the most important thing is a immediate injection of antibotulinic serum. It is necessary to hospitalize patient. In cases when doctors with biological test find out type of organism toxin, they use a special antitoxin serum which acts against one particular exotoxin type (type A or type B). If it is impossible to do then they use multipartial mixture of different kinds of serum (type A, type B, type C).
Preventive Measures
Strict sanitary inspection of food industry should be performed, starting with fish capture, its drying, fuming, tinning and ending with butchering and meat processing.
It is necessary to meet sanitary requirements when you make home tinning. Remember that spores of anaerobic botulism organism live in the ground. They do breed and envenom in conditions when there is no oxygen. The dander is constituted in canned button mushrooms insufficiently cleaned from soil where can live spores, and also tinned meat and tinned fish from bloated tins. Products with signs of bad quality are strongly unpermitted: they usually smell like strong cheese or rank butter.
Rabies
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Friday, 31 July 09 - 02:20 PM (GMT) By Eric M. Smith in Rabies |
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Symptoms and course
Incubation period is 15-55 days, but it can last half- year or even more. The disease has three periods:
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prodrormal period lasts 1-3 days. It is followed by increase of temperature, depression state, bad sleep, insomnia, feeling of anxiety. Pain of the bite usually feels even after it was skinned.
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arousal period lasts 4-7 days. It is characterized by hypersensitiveness for sensation of sense organs: bright light and various noises cause cramps of limb muscles. Diseased become aggressive; hallucinations, insanity, feeling of fear appear.
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period of paralysis of eye-muscles and lower limbs; severe paralytic disorders of breath cause death. General duration of the disease is 5-8 days, in some cases 10-12 days.
Recognition
Here important is presence of bite and getting saliva of the diseased animal on affected skin. One of the main important symptom of the disease is hydrophobia that is characterized by spasm of pharyngal musculature only at sight of water and food what makes it impossible to drink even a glass of water. Also there can be a symptom of aerophobia – muscle cramps that appear at every air motion. Hypersalivation is definitive symptom, in some cases diseased get their saliva leaked out of angles of their mouth.
There is no need in laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis but it is possible to make examination with the newest method of rabis virus antigen detecting by using the footprints from the surface eye membranes.
Treatment
There are no effective methods what makes in majority of cases problematic life saving of the diseased. It is necessary to use nosotropic methods to ease painful condition. Doctors remove motor excitement with alleviant remedies, they remove cramps with muscle relaxant. Breathing problems are compensated with tracheotomy and connection of the diseased to artificial lung.
Preventive Measures
Fighting with rabies among dogs, extermination of vagabond dogs. People bitted with a diseased animal should immediately wash wound with warm boiled water (with or without soap) and to process it with 70% spiritus or iodine alcoholate, and as soon as possible, to go to the doctor to vaccinate. It consists of serum injection or antirabic immunoglobulin and is made deep in the wound and in soft tissues around it. You should know that vaccination is effective just in case when it is made within 14 days from the bite of rabid animal and in case that for that purpose is used hyper-immune vaccine.
Q fever
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Thursday, 23 July 09 - 10:18 AM (GMT) By Eric M. Smith in Q fever |
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Symptoms and course
Incubation period is 14-19 days. The disease starts abruptly with shiver. Temperature rises up to 38-39 C and keeps 3-5 days. The disease is characterized with variances in temperature, followed by shiver and sweating. The most common symptoms are those of intoxication (headache, muscule pain, joint pains, sickliness of eyeballs, loss of appetite). Facial skin is moderately hyperemic, rash occurs rarely. On 3-5 day of the disease some patients can have painful dry cough. Pneumonic affection is clearly detected during X-ray examination in form of local boundary rounds. Then appear typical symptoms of pneumonia. The tongue is dry. Also there is noticed liver and spleen increase (in 50% of cases). There are no changes in urine. The recovery from the disease lasts slowly. Apathy, subfebrile temperature and work decrement are kept for a long time. Recurrence occurs in 4-20% cases of disease.
Treatment
Diseased should take antibiotics such as 0,2-0,3g tetracycline or 0.5g chloramphenicol every 6 hours for 8-10 days. In parallel is prescribed intravenous injection of 5% glucose solution, vitamin complex, for cause – oxygen-therapy, blood transfusion, heart-vascular remedies.
Preventive Measures
Domestic animals should be tested for Q fever. Cattle house should be disinfected with 10% of lime chloride solution. Milk from diseased animals should be heated. In hot spots is recommended to fight acarians and to use repellents. Those who contact with animals should be vaccinated to prevent Q fever. Diseased with Q fever do not present danger for people.
Leishmaniasis
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Wednesday, 15 July 09 - 02:41 PM (GMT) By Eric M. Smith in Leishmaniasis |
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There are two main clinical forms of leishmaniasis: visceral leishmaniasis and cutaneous leishmaniasis.
Visceral leishmaniasis
Symptoms. Typical sign is sharp increase of spleen along with increase of liver and lymphatic glands. Remittent fever rises about two times a day. Incubation period lasts from 10-20 days to several months. The disease starts gradually with rising weakness and intestinal upset (diarrhea). Spleen gradually increases and at height of disease achieves great size (it goes down into small pelvis). Liver is increased too. Different rashes appear, most of them are papulous. Skin is dry and has sallow color. Distinctive is tendency to bleeding, gradually is developing weight loss, anemia, edema.
Recognition
The exact diagnosis can be made only after puncture of spleen or bone marrow and after finding leishmania in them.
Dry sore (urban type of cutaneous leishmaniasis)
Incubation period lasts 3-8 months. First, on spots where agent was penetrated appears papilla of 2-3mm. Gradually it increases in its size, skin above it becomes red, and in 3-6 months it is crusted. When removing it, on its spot appears sore in form of a round with smooth or wrinkled bottom covered with white matter. Around sore appears infiltrate - after its breaking size of sore increases gradually. Sore scaring finishes in about one year from the beginning of disease. The number of sores on the body usually varies from 1-3 to 10, they are located on opened skin areas available for sand flies (hands, legs).
Moist sore (rural type of cutaneous leishmaniasis)
Incubation period is shorter. On spot of agent penetration appears pineal papilla of 2-4mm which increases quickly and achieves in several days 1-1.5cm having in its center necrosis. After rejection of sphacelus opens a sore which extends quickly. Singular sores can be very big, achieving size of 5cm and even more. In case of multiple sores the number of them can be tens and hundreds small size each. They have ragged edges, their bottom is covered with necrotic mass and abundant white matter. By third month the bottom of sore is cleaned and granulation is growing. The process ends in 5 months. Often is observed lymphangitis. Both types of cutaneous leishmaniasis can be resulted in chronic tubercular form, resembling with lupus.
The diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis is made on specific clinical image and is confirmed by detecting of agent in sample taken from infiltrate.
Treatment
To treat this disease is recommended to take 3 times a day intramuscularly a medicine called monomycin during 10-12 days. Monomycin ointment is used topically.
Preventive Measures
Fighting with sand flies who are carrier agents, extermination of dogs and gnawing animals. Recently doctors started to make preventive injections.
What is Rubella?
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Monday, 06 July 09 - 09:27 AM (GMT) By Eric M. Smith in Rubella |
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Rubella is a virus disease with specific small spotted rash called exanthem, generalized lymphadenopathy, moderately frank fever and affect of fetus of women being pregnant. The disease is caused by the agent called togavirus and has a RNA genome. It is nonpersistent in external environment, dies rapidly when heated up to 56
In interepidemic period selected cases are observed. The maximum number of cases are registered in April – June. The disease represents a particular risk for pregnant because of fetal infection. Rubella virus releases into external environment one week before the rash appears on skin and during the week when rash has appeared. Infection is transmitted via airborne.
Symptoms and course
Incubation period lasts 11-24 days. General condition suffers weakly that is why the first noticeable symptom is rash resembling with measly or scarlatina rash. Ill men suffer from little weakness, lack of energy, headache, pain in muscles and in joints. Temperature of the body often is subfebrile, although it in some cases riches 38-39°C and keeps 1-3 days. When physical examination low-grade symptoms of catarrh, little redding of pharynx and conjunctivitis are observed.
From the very first days of disease appears generalized lymphadenopathy (in other words, the affection of lymphatic system). The most expressed are increasing and painfulness of back-necked and occipital lymph glands. Exanthem appears on 1-3 day from the beginning of disease, first on the neck and after several hours spreads on the whole body and it can be itching. Also there is some inspissation of rash of extensor surface of limbs, back and buns.
Elements of the rash represent little spots with diameter of 2-4 mm, usually they do not merge, are kept for 3-5 days and disappear without living pigmentation on skin. In 25-30% of cases rubella progresses without rash and is characterized by moderate fever and lymphadenopathy. The disease can course without symptoms, having the only manifestation of viremia and increasing of titre in blood of specific antibodies.
Complications
Arthritis, Acute Encephalitis.
Recognition
Clinical and laboratory data help to carry out the recognition of the disease. Nowadays virologic methods are not used widely. From serological tests are used the neutralization test and hemagglutination-inhibition test injected together with paired sera taken 10-14 days apart.
Treatment
There is prescribed comfort care when uncomplicated rubella. When arthritis doctors usually prescribe 0.25g of chingamin (chloroquine) 2-3 times per day during 5-7 days. Also are advised diphenylhydramine (0.05g two times a day), butadiene (0.15g 3-4 times a day), nosotropic treatment. When encephalitis, are advised corticosteroid remedies.
The general prognosis for rubella is favorable, excepting when encephalitis which has mortality of 50%.
Preventive Measures
Are very important for women in child-bearing age. Some specialists recommend to vaccinate girls of 13-25 years. People diseased with rubella should be isolated up to five days since appearing of rash.
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