Tapeworm

 What are tapeworms?

Tapeworms are flat, segmented and long parasite worms that cannot live freely without a host. They usually live in their hosts' intestines, and can be dangerous in circumstances, because they can block organs or small ducts from sending out bodily fluids, which can cause blockages or infections. They attach to stomach walls and survive from the body supplies. Other than that, they can travel to other places, like liver, eyes, heart... and can cause damage to them. However, don't be worried, only 1000 people in the U.S. gets it every year, and in a 13 year study, only 221 people died from tapeworms. These deaths are called Neurocysticercosis, and are caused by highly invasive pork tapeworms. Other than that, most hosts don't have symptoms from it.

Symptoms:

- Sudden weight loss

- Sudden loss of appetite

- Diarrhea

- Nausea

- Abdomen pain

- Dizziness

- Fatigue

Transmission:

Tapeworms are usually transmitted through contaminated water, food or fleas. Usually, the worms lay eggs in there. The worm will then grow in the intestines. Well how do they overcome the stomach acid? The stomach acid actually breaks down the shell of the larvae, freeing the worms from their shells. These worms also have special mechanisms to protect themselves from stomach enzymes and acids.

Treatments:

Tapeworms are usually treated with medicine which paralyzes them and lets you poop it out. It works on most patients.

Prevention:

- Cook and wash your food thoroughly

- Avoid eating raw meat or fish

- Wash your hands before and after cooking and eating

Whooping Cough

What is Whooping Cough?

Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, is a both a very highly contagious and transmittable disease, especially in children. Before the vaccine was created, which will be mentioned below, it is extremely dangerous for children and possibly fatal for babies because the coughing can mess up the breathing pattern of children. Statistics aren't clear, but it is estimated that 10000-50000 people catch whooping cough every and 20 babies die from it every year. 

Symptoms:

- Fever

- Runny Nose

- Nasal Congestion

- Red eyes

- Cough

- Vomiting

- Red-ish Face

- Blue-ish Face

- Fatigueness

- "Whoop" at the end of breath

Transmission:

Whooping cough is spread airborne, and is very contagious. If someone's bodily fluids like saliva gets into an individual's nose, mouth or eyes, it can be spread. Symptoms usually worsen 2 weeks after of contracting the disease, and it is contagious even 2 weeks after symptoms start.

Treatment:

Antibiotics are usually the treatment because Pertussis is a bacteria.

Prevention:

Taking the vaccine will lower your chance of catching Whooping Cough by a lot. However, nothing is 100% effective, and you still have to be careful around sick people.

Flu

 What is Flu?

The influenza, commonly known as the flu, is caused by the influenza virus. It is a highly infectious disease, and every year, an estimated billion people gets the flu, and effects can be very mild or very severe. An estimated 4 million people are severely affected, and 400000 die. However, unlike other viruses, flu have small mutation fairly quickly and very easily, making them change every year and hard to control. On the bright side, in recent years, due to technological advancements, scientists have been able to estimate changes in the virus and create vaccines accordingly to keep up and slowdown the virus. Other than that, there are 4 strains of Influenza, which scientists also have to estimate in their researches.

Types of Influenza:

- Type A - Most common type and can cause pandemic/epidemic

- Type B - Less severe than Type A and cannot cause pandemic/epidemic but can still be severe

- Type C - Extremely mild influenza that rarely affects people

- Type D - Do not affect humans

Symptoms:

- Sneezing 

- Coughing

- Sore Throat

- Runny Nose

- Fever

- Fatigue

- Gastrointestinal symptoms

Transmission:

Flu is highly transmissible because it can be transmitted through air. If a droplet from a sneeze or cough enters your mouth, nose or eyes, you can be easily infected. It can also be transmitted through direct contact, even though it is a little less common. Other than that, there are flu seasons, which is around October to February, because of the temperature.

Past Flu Epidemics/Pandemics:

- Asiatic/Russian Flu 1889-1890

- Spanish Flu 1918 (H1N1)

- Asian Flu 1957 (H2N2)

- Hong Kong Flu 1968 (H3N2)

- Swine Flu 2009 (H1N1)

Prevention:

TAKE THE FLU SHOT!!!

Treatment:

Resting and taking care of yourself is usually the "treatment" for flu, but if you have a serious case, go see a doctor and they may give you antiviral drugs.

Smallpox

 What is Smallpox?

Smallpox, caused by the Variola virus, is an extremely dangerous and easily transmittable disease that had been eradicated in 1980, with the last known case to be in October 1977. The diseases can be caused by two variants by Variola - Variola Major and Variola minor. Rashes and blisters filled with fluids form on mainly the limbs and the face, and it falls off after, leaving scars all over the patient's face. The death rate was also 30%, which was fairly high, and because of its easy transmission, it was feared over 3000 years, since the ancient Egyptians. But as said above, the virus was eradicated in 1980 by the smallpox vaccine, which was first introduced in 1796.

Symptoms:

First Symptoms:

- High Fever

- Fatigue/Tiredness

- Vomiting

- Diarrhea

- Severe Back Pain

Later Symptoms:

- Rashes on Face, Hands, Legs and Body

- Skin Lesions

- Bumps with clear liquid and pus

Transmission:

Smallpox is an airborne virus. Coughing, sneezing or direct contact with the fluids from the bumps can easily transmit the virus, which is why so many people got it.

Treatment:

Recently in 2018, scientists have found a drug - tecovirimat - which can stop variola growth, but before it was eradicated, the virus could only be treated with intensive care and it still left scars on the victims' faces.

Prevention:

The smallpox vaccine successfully stopped and eradicated the virus. Freeze dried calf lymph vaccine administered with a bifurcated needle is the oldest smallpox vaccine and had been used in the U.S. until 2008, where it was replaced by other new smallpox vaccines such as ACAM2000.

Ebola

What is Ebola?

Remember Ebola? Yes, Ebola, I bet you haven't heard about it for sometime now. It was the virus that shook West Africa from 2013-2016, causing deaths, social and economical problems. It shook the rest of the world slightly as the virus popped up all over headlines, but was thankfully stopped from spreading into a pandemic. 

The (commonly known) Ebola, or Zaire Ebolavirus, is a type of virus from the Ebolavirus (EBOV) family. There are 5 other kinds of Ebolaviruses in the family, such as the Sudan virus, Tai forest virus, Bundibugyo virus, Reston virus and the Bombali Virus. Only the first 4 has been known affect humans. The virus has been first discovered in 1976 in the Ebola river of the DRC, hence the name, and it is thought to be animal-borne, or transmitted from animals to humans. The virus has caused multiple outbreaks over the years, such as the West African Ebola Outbreak mentioned above, and is an extremely serious disease which can easily cause death quickly without proper treatment.

Symptoms:

There are a few stages of Ebola symptoms from mild to severe within about 2 weeks.

First symptoms (7-9 days after infected):

- Fever

- Headache

- Fatigue

- Joint aches

- Muscle soreness

- Muscle pain

More severe (Day 10):

- High Fever

- Blood vomiting

Extremely severe (Day 11):

- Bleeding from different parts of body (eyes, mouth, nose...)

- Unexplained bruising

- High fever

- Brain damage

Most severe (Day 12+):

- Seizures

- Organ failures

- Continued internal bleeding and bleeding from parts of body

- Death

Why does the bleeding happen?

The Ebola virus can infect a macrophage, and when they do so, they can cause blood clots to form in blood vessels which blocks some blood supply to organs causing them to fail. The virus can also trigger the body to inflame blood vessel lining, causing damages and leaking, which is why bleeding occurs in severe cases of ebola.

Transmission:

Ebola can be transmitted from the direct contact of body fluids, like blood, vomit, urine and sweat.

Treatment:

There are no antiviral drugs for Ebola currently. The treatment would be to intravenously feed your body with fluids and electrolytes, giving oxygen and to use medication to suppress symptoms caused by the virus.

Prevention:

Stay away from areas of high risk, avoid contact with infected people or wild animals and take a vaccine if you must.

Chickenpox and Shingles

 What is chickenpox?

Chickenpox is a disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus, and it is a type of herpes virus. It is very rarely fatal, however, is highly contagious among unimmunized people. Before 1995, chickenpox was extremely common due to its easy-spreading nature, however, ever since the chickenpox vaccine was licensed for used in March 1995 in the US, chickenpox had been a much less significant issue. According to CDC, before the vaccine, every year about 4 million people had chickenpox, 10500-13000 were hospitalized and 100-150 died. Now, that number is cut off by 80%. How about in Canada? Between 1986 and 2018, 1987 had reported 72343 cases, making it the year with most cases. The numbers decreased until 1993 when it spiked to 49779 again. There was a steep drop from 2003 to 2004, dropping from 17572 cases to 1734 cases. In 2018, there were 339 cases. 

What is shingles?

Shingles, although caused by the same virus of chickenpox, is a much more severe disease than chickenpox. When the varicella-zoster virus reactivates, chickenpox doesn't reactivate. Instead, shingles takes its place. So if you've never had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine, you could never get shingles. Shingles is rarely fatal as well, but it could bring severe pain and itch to the patient.

Symptoms of Chickenpox:

- Rash that turns into blisters and scabs

- Fever and Headache

- Tiredness

- Loss of appetite

These symptoms usually come between 10-21 days of contracting the virus.

Symptoms of Shingles:

- Symptoms of Chickenpox

- Tingling, Prickling and Burning Pain

Transmission:

Chickenpox can be spread by airborne droplets or by touching the fresh blisters of an infected person. However, dry blisters cannot transmit chickenpox. Furthermore, chickenpox can live in the air for 2-3 hours.

Treatment: 

There's no specific treatment for Chickenpox. You just have to rest a lot, take care of your body, and if you feel any discomforts, take medicines to treat the symptoms.

Prevention: 

The vaccine, same as polio, is the most important part of chickenpox prevention. The chickenpox vaccine decreased cases by 90%, and the effectiveness of the vaccine in the body for more than 20 years with only 2 shots. In addition, with 2 shots, it is 100% effective against severe cases of chickenpox.

Polio

What is Polio?

Polio, full name Poliomyelitis, is a disease that can be highly severe and deadly and has been eradicated by most of the world in 2020. In 1988, an american polio eradicating goal was created to eradicate all cases of polio by the 2000, however, they did it in 1994. The last case of a wild poliovirus case reported in August 1991 in Peru, and on Nov 20, 1994, polio eradication has been certified. Other countries in Europe and Asia followed on, and in 1998, the last polio case of Europe took place in Turkey, and on June 21, 2002, the WHO declared that Europe eradicated polio. In 2017-2020, only 2 countries in the world, Pakistan and Afghanistan, had wild Polio cases, with other African countries only having the very rare Vaccine Derived Polio (cVDPV). There are 3 types of wild poliovirus - Type 1, 2 and 3. The last type 2 polio case was in October 24, 1999, and it has been certified globally eradicated on September 20, 2015. The last type 3 polio case was on November 10, 2012 in Nigeria, and has also been certified globally eradicated on October 24, 2019. Scientists are now working hard to eradicate Type 1 polio as well. Other than that, polio can also be abortive, nonparalytic or paralytic. Abortive polio and nonparalytic polio can still be found in the US, however it is extremely rare, and happens mostly to children with common and minor flu symptoms or at most, meningitis, that lasts for short periods of time, however, 1% of polio victims can develop paralytic polio and suffer from paralysis and long term to permanent damage after treated. 

Symptoms:

Non paralytic/Abortive:

- Fever and headache

- Sore Throat

- Vomiting

- Meningitis

Paralytic:

- Paralysis

- Severe spasms and pain

How is polio transmitted?

- Fecal-oral transmission

    Polio is transmitted when someone ingests an infected person's faeces. This can happen when an infected person serves food after taking a dump and not washing hands.

-Oral-oral transmission

    Oral-oral transmission via saliva is also possible but very rare.

Treatment:

- Rest

- Antibiotics

- Physical Therapy (Paralysis)

- Ventilators

- Painkillers

Prevention:

The polio vaccine is the most effective cure of polio. The polio vaccine has dropped 99% of polio cases, so remember to take all your polio shots!