A deliberate event is an act or threat involving the intentional release of hazardous substances to cause harm. Hazardous substances include chemicals, biological agents and radiological materials.
Deliberate events cover a wide spectrum of intent and public health impact. They can be on a small scale, for example, contaminating a few samples of a product to extort money from a retailer.
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever usually transmitted by ticks. It can also be contracted through contact with viraemic animal tissues (animal tissue where the virus has entered the bloodstream) during and immediately post-slaughter of animals. CCHF outbreaks constitute a threat to public health services as the virus can lead to epidemics, has a high case fatality ratio (10-40%), potentially results in hospital and health facility outbreaks, and is difficult to prevent and treat. CCHF is endemic in all of Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and in Asia.
Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi.
An estimated 6 to 7 million people worldwide are infected with T. cruzi. Chagas disease is found mainly in endemic areas of 21 continental Latin American countries, where it is mostly transmitted when humans come into contact with faeces and/or urine of infected blood-sucking triatomine bugs (vector-borne transmission).
Symptoms of chikungunya appear between 4 and 7 days after the patient has been bitten by the infected mosquito. Chikungunya is rarely fatal. Most symptoms are generally self-limiting and last for 2–3 days. The disease is characterized by an abrupt onset of fever, which is frequently accompanied by joint pain. Other common signs and symptoms include muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash. The joint pain is often debilitating and usually lasts for a few days to a few weeks.
Reducing environmental risks could prevent 1 in 4 child deaths. In 2012, 1.7 million deaths in children under five were attributable to the environment. These included 570 000 deaths from respiratory infections, 361 000 deaths from diarrhoea, 270 000 deaths from neonatal conditions, 200 000 deaths from malaria and 200 000 deaths from unintentional injuries.
Caption: A new measure of immunity called immune resilience is helping researchers find clues as to why some people remain healthier even in the face of varied inflammatory stressors. Credit: Modified from Shutterstock/Ground Picture
Do you feel as if you or perhaps your family members are constantly coming down with illnesses that drag on longer than they should? Or, maybe you’re one of those lucky people who rarely becomes ill and, if you do, recovers faster than others.
The human body has a deep connection with electricity. The transmission of electrical impulses is responsible for the movement of our limbs, the functioning of our organs, and the formation and recall of memories. The signatures of the various electrical signals emanating from our body can be telltale signs of our health, and a jolt of electricity can literally bring us back from the brink of death.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are spread predominantly by unprotected sexual contact. Some STIs can also be transmitted during pregnancy and childbirth and through infected blood or blood products.
STIs have a profound impact on health. If untreated, they can lead to serious consequences including neurological and cardiovascular disease, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirths, and increased risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). They are also associated with stigma, domestic violence, and affects quality of life.
Effective treatment is currently available for several STIs.
Three bacterial STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis) and one parasitic STI (trichomoniasis) are usually curable with existing, effective single-dose or multiple-dose regimens of antibiotics.
For viral STIs (HIV, HSV and HTLV-1), the most effective medications available are antivirals or anti-cancer drugs (in the case of HTLV-1), that can modulate the course of the diseases, though they cannot cure these three diseases.
A person can have an STI without having obvious symptoms of disease. When present, common symptoms of STIs include: abnormal vaginal discharge, urethral discharge, genital ulcers and lumps, and lower abdominal pain.
Symptoms of specific STIs are:
Smallpox is an acute contagious disease caused by the variola virus, a member of the orthopoxvirus family. It was one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity and caused millions of deaths before it was eradicated. It is believed to have existed for at least 3000 years.
The smallpox vaccine, created by Edward Jenner in 1796, was the first successful vaccine to be developed. He observed that milkmaids who previously had caught cowpox did not catch smallpox and showed that a similar inoculation could be used to prevent smallpox in other people.
Early symptoms of smallpox include high fever, fatigue and severe back pain, and less often, abdominal pain and vomiting. Two to 3 days later the virus produces a characteristic rash with bumps full of a clear liquid, which later fill with pus and finally develop a crust that dries and falls off. The rash begins on the face and hands, then spreads to the rest of the body. Lesions develop in the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth and ulcerate soon after formation.
