A historical Perspective of Dengue
The story of dengue in many ways starts in the Americas.
Dr. Benjamin Rush made the first good clinical description of dengue.
He was in charge of hospitals under General George Washington in the Oriental Army and described for dengue outbreak in Philadelphia in 1780:
“This fever generally came on with rigor, but seldom with a regularly chilly fit. The pains which accompanied this fever were exquisitely severe in the head, back and limbs.
The pains in the head were sometimes in the back parts of it, and at other times they occupied only the eyeballs.
A few complained of their flesh being sore to the touch, in very part of the body. Its general name among all classes of people was the break-bone fever.”
Dengue today presents with the same fever, headache, eye pain, myalgia and arthralgia.
The US military’s dengue research efforts started just after the Spanish-America War, sparked by the very many dengue causalities in the Philippines.
A dengue commission was established in 1900, and Ashburn and Craig were sent to the Philippines to determine the etiology of dengue and to devise countermeasures.
Although a series of experiments they deduced that dengue was caused by “an ultra microscopic and non-filterable agent,” or a virus.
Ashburn and Craig confirmed that virus could be transmitted from person to person by both mosquito and by syringe; they made careful description of the disease to include leucopenia.
Important for vaccine development, they demonstrated that immunity following infection was absolute; they could only make healthy volunteers with dengue one time.
During World War II, Japan and the United States of America had large dengue research programs.
Dr. Hotta and Dr. Kimura in Japan isolated the dengue serotype 1 virus (DENV-1) shortly before Dr. Sabin and Dr. Schlesinger did so in Hawaii.
In the 1950s, the face of dengue changed dramatically with the widespread recognition of DHF. The army and the Air Force sent Dr. Bill Hammond to investigate the 1956 outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in the Philippines.
He worked with Philippines and Thai scientist to isolate DENV-3 and DENV-4.
The most important pathological process that distinguished DHF from dengue is plasma leakages that can lead to shock and death.
Untreated, DHF has a mortality rate of around 10%. With careful fluid management, however, mortality rates drop to below 1%.
DHF can occur in any age group, but it is most common among children living in dengue hyperendemic areas.
A historical Perspective of Dengue
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Anthrax: The Disease and the History
Anthrax: The Disease and the History
Anthrax is a peracute, acute or sub-acute disease primarily affecting herbivores but also encountered in other mammals, including humans, and occasionally birds.
The words ‘anthrax’ is derived from the Greek anthrakos, meaning coal, referring o the characteristics eschar in the human cutaneous form of the disease.
The familiar name ‘black bane’ and the French and Italian names for the disease charbon and carbonchio, similarly reflect this manifestation.
Names in other languages and older English names refer to other of its significant manifestations or to its sources of infection, viz Milzbrand (German) and miltvuur (Duth), meaning ‘spleen fire’, pustula maligna (Spanish), Bradford disease, woolsorter’s disease, ragpicker’s disease and so on.
Its numerous synonyms in many national languages and local dialects reflect the historical familiarity with the different syndromes before it was realized that they were manifestations of one etiological agent, Bacillus anthracis.
Fifth and sixth plaques of Egypt in the time of Moses are thought by some to have represented the earliest historical; reports of the anthrax due to respectively to systemic and cutaneous forms of the disease.
Anthrax appears to have featured in Asia Minor at the time of Siege of Troy (ca. 1200 BC) an description of the typical symptoms in the writing of Homer (ca. 1000 BC), Hippocrates (ca. 400 BC), Varro (116 – 27 BC), Virgil (70 – 19 BC and Galen (ca. 200 AD) indicate that the Greeks and Romans were well acquainted with it.
Scientifically reports began with the descriptions of malignant pustule and the disease in animals in 1700s.
The nineteenth century saw anthrax as the first disease of man and animals shown to be caused by a microorganism and as the disease on which much of the original work on bacteria and vaccines was done.
Anthrax: The Disease and the History
Anthrax is a peracute, acute or sub-acute disease primarily affecting herbivores but also encountered in other mammals, including humans, and occasionally birds.
The words ‘anthrax’ is derived from the Greek anthrakos, meaning coal, referring o the characteristics eschar in the human cutaneous form of the disease.
The familiar name ‘black bane’ and the French and Italian names for the disease charbon and carbonchio, similarly reflect this manifestation.
Names in other languages and older English names refer to other of its significant manifestations or to its sources of infection, viz Milzbrand (German) and miltvuur (Duth), meaning ‘spleen fire’, pustula maligna (Spanish), Bradford disease, woolsorter’s disease, ragpicker’s disease and so on.
Its numerous synonyms in many national languages and local dialects reflect the historical familiarity with the different syndromes before it was realized that they were manifestations of one etiological agent, Bacillus anthracis.
Fifth and sixth plaques of Egypt in the time of Moses are thought by some to have represented the earliest historical; reports of the anthrax due to respectively to systemic and cutaneous forms of the disease.
Anthrax appears to have featured in Asia Minor at the time of Siege of Troy (ca. 1200 BC) an description of the typical symptoms in the writing of Homer (ca. 1000 BC), Hippocrates (ca. 400 BC), Varro (116 – 27 BC), Virgil (70 – 19 BC and Galen (ca. 200 AD) indicate that the Greeks and Romans were well acquainted with it.
Scientifically reports began with the descriptions of malignant pustule and the disease in animals in 1700s.
The nineteenth century saw anthrax as the first disease of man and animals shown to be caused by a microorganism and as the disease on which much of the original work on bacteria and vaccines was done.
Anthrax: The Disease and the History
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Measles
Measles
Measles is a viral disease most commonly affecting school age children, although adults contact the ease as well.
There are two main varieties: German measles and common measles.
There is an immunization but if there are existing conditions, they may be complications.
German measles (rubella) is caused by a virus and has a rapid recovery period, but the disease must run its course and there is little that can be done medically for its treatment, German measles is a mild illness, alarming only to pregnant women.
If a woman contracts German measles during the early months of pregnancy the newborn can suffer from such malformations as heart defect, deafness, mental retardation, and blindness.
Symptoms of German measles may include fever headache and stiff joints (mainly in the neck), although most people seldom complain of any symptoms.
A rash that lasts for about three days appears on the arms, chest and forehead.
Lotion may be applied to the rash to relieve itching, and the patient should stay away from other people to avoid spreading the disease.
Common measles (rubeola) is a highly contagious disease spread by droplets from the nose throat and mouth.
The first symptoms of common measles are a fever that lasts for a couple of days followed by a cough, runny nose and inflammation of the eyes.
Stomach pains, diarrhea, and vomiting may also occur. Within twenty forty-eight hours, small red spots with white centers appear in the inside of the cheeks.
A rash which is first seen on the face and upper neck and then spreads down the back and trunk and then to the limbs, usually appears three to five days after the onset of the first symptoms.
As the rash spreads fever goes down. After about five days, the rash fades in the same order it appeared. Common measles may have been serious complications, such as ear infections, pneumonia, encephalitis and injury to the nervous system.
Measles
Measles is a viral disease most commonly affecting school age children, although adults contact the ease as well.
There are two main varieties: German measles and common measles.
There is an immunization but if there are existing conditions, they may be complications.
German measles (rubella) is caused by a virus and has a rapid recovery period, but the disease must run its course and there is little that can be done medically for its treatment, German measles is a mild illness, alarming only to pregnant women.
If a woman contracts German measles during the early months of pregnancy the newborn can suffer from such malformations as heart defect, deafness, mental retardation, and blindness.
Symptoms of German measles may include fever headache and stiff joints (mainly in the neck), although most people seldom complain of any symptoms.
A rash that lasts for about three days appears on the arms, chest and forehead.
Lotion may be applied to the rash to relieve itching, and the patient should stay away from other people to avoid spreading the disease.
Common measles (rubeola) is a highly contagious disease spread by droplets from the nose throat and mouth.
The first symptoms of common measles are a fever that lasts for a couple of days followed by a cough, runny nose and inflammation of the eyes.
Stomach pains, diarrhea, and vomiting may also occur. Within twenty forty-eight hours, small red spots with white centers appear in the inside of the cheeks.
A rash which is first seen on the face and upper neck and then spreads down the back and trunk and then to the limbs, usually appears three to five days after the onset of the first symptoms.
As the rash spreads fever goes down. After about five days, the rash fades in the same order it appeared. Common measles may have been serious complications, such as ear infections, pneumonia, encephalitis and injury to the nervous system.
Measles
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