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How much harm can Leprosy cause to our body?

How much harm can Leprosy cause to our body?

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What is Leprosy?

The infectious disease leprosy results in severe, disfiguring skin lesions as well as nerve damage in the arms, legs, and other skin-covered parts of the body. Leprosy has existed since antiquity. People have been impacted by outbreaks on every continent.

Leprosy, however, is not very contagious. Only close and repeated contact with mouth and nose droplets from a person who has untreated leprosy will cause you to contract it. Leprosy affects children more frequently than it does adults.

According to the World Health Organization, there are currently roughly 208,000 leprosy cases globally, with the majority occurring in Africa and Asia. Leprosy is diagnosed in about 100 Americans annually, predominantly in the South, California, Hawaii, and a few U.S. territories.

How does Hansen’s disease spread?

Mycobacterium leprae is the culprit behind Hansen’s illness. It is believed that Hansen’s disease spreads by contact with an infected person’s mucosal secretions. When a person with Hansen’s disease sneezes or coughs, this typically happens.

The illness is not very communicable. On the other hand, prolonged close contact with an untreated person can cause Hansen’s disease to develop.

The bacteria that causes Hansen’s illness grows very slowly. According to the World Health Organization, the disease has an average incubation period of five years (the interval between infection and the onset of the first symptoms) .

It could take up to 20 years before symptoms start to show. The disease can also be carried by and passed on to people by armadillos, which are native to the southern United States and Mexico, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

What are the symptoms of leprosy?

The following are the top three signs of leprosy (Hansen’s disease):

  • Patches of skin that may be red or have lost their colour.
  • Patches of skin without or with decreased sensation.
  • Your hands, feet, arms, and legs may feel numb or tingly.
  • burns or wounds that cause no pain on the hands and feet.
  • muscle sluggishness

Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) patients may also experience:

  • stiff or thick skin.
  • periphery nerves that are larger.
  • loss of eyebrows or eyelashes
  • nasal blockage
  • Nosebleeds.

When the illness is advanced, it may result in:

  • Paralysis.
  • loss of vision
  • alteration to the nose.
  • Injury to the hands and feet that is permanent.
  • the fingers and toes become shorter.
  • ulcers on the bottom of the feet that are chronic and don’t heal.

After contracting the Mycobacterium leprae infection, leprosy symptoms take between three and five years to manifest. It may potentially take up to two decades in rare circumstances. It is challenging for medical professionals to pinpoint the time and location of the infection because of this.

What causes Leprosy?

A form of bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae, which grows slowly, is the culprit behind leprosy (M. leprae). Another name for leprosy is Hansen’s disease, Hansen being the name of the researcher who discovered M. leprae in 1873.

It is unclear how leprosy is spread exactly. When a person with leprosy coughs or sneezes, they may release droplets that another person can breathe in that contain the M. leprae germs. Leprosy is spread by close personal contact with an afflicted person. It cannot be passed on through innocuous interactions such as handshakes, hugs, or sitting next to an infected person on a bus or at a table while eating.

Leprosy cannot be transmitted from pregnant women to their unborn children. Additionally, it cannot be spread through sexual contact.

How is Hansen’s disease diagnosed?

For the purpose of spotting early disease indicators, your doctor will do a physical examination. Additionally, they’ll perform a biopsy in which they take a tiny fragment of skin or nerve and send it to a lab for analysis.

The type of Hansen’s disease may potentially be identified by a lepromin skin test administered by your doctor. A tiny amount of the inactivated Hansen’s disease-causing bacterium will be injected beneath the skin, often on the upper forearm.

A beneficial outcome at the injection site will be felt by those who have tuberculoid or borderline tuberculoid Hansen’s illness.

How is Hansen’s disease treated?

In order to treat all forms of Hansen’s disease, the WHO created a multidrug therapy in 1995. It is accessible anywhere without cost.

Furthermore, a number of antibiotics work to treat Hansen’s illness by eradicating the bacterium that causes it. These antibiotics consist of:

  • dapsone (Aczone) 
  • rifampin (Rifadin) 
  • clofazimine (Lamprene) 
  • minocycline (Minocin) 
  • ofloxacin (Ocuflux)

More than one antibiotic will probably be prescribed by your doctor concurrently.

They might also recommend that you take an anti-inflammatory drug such thalidomide, prednisone, or aspirin (Bayer, Rayos, and Rayos) (Thalomid). The course of treatment could extend for one to two years, or for many months.

If you are or may become pregnant, you should never take thalidomide. Serious birth abnormalities may result from it.

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Lets discover the various types of Rabies symptoms.

Lets discover the various types of Rabies symptoms.

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Introduction

A lethal virus called rabies inflames the brains of both humans and other creatures. Humans can contract rabies from infected animals by being bitten or scratched. The illness may be lethal if left untreated. If a person who has been exposed to rabies gets immediate medical assistance, it is however treatable.

Between one and three Americans develop rabies each year. 25 human cases of the illness were reported in the U.S. from 2008 to 2019, with eight of those cases involving travellers who contracted the disease abroad. Since the 1970s, rabies has been less common thanks to developments in medicine, public awareness, and vaccine campaigns.

However, the illness still affects people all over the world and kills tens of thousands of people each year, especially in rural Southeast Asia and Africa. 99% of rabies illnesses are brought on by dog bites.

What is Rabies?

An animal bite from an infected animal is the main way that the viral virus rabies is transmitted. It frequently results in death without early treatment.

It is an RNA rhabdovirus that has two different ways it might impact the body. Rabies has the ability to move directly into the peripheral nervous system from the brain. Additionally, because the immune system of the host cannot detect it in muscle tissue, it can reproduce there.

Through the neuromuscular connections, it then enters the nervous system. The virus causes severe brain inflammation after it has entered the neural system. Then comes coma and death.

Transmission

With 95% of cases occurring in Asia and Africa, stray dogs are most prevalent in nations where rabies is most prevalent.

Since the virus is spread through saliva, rabies can occur if an infected animal attacks a human. It can also happen if an infected animal’s saliva enters a wound that is open or passes through a mucous membrane, such the mouth or eyes. The virus, however, cannot penetrate intact skin.

Raccoons, coyotes, bats, skunks, and foxes are the species most likely to spread the disease in the United States. Every state in the US except Hawaii has bats that are rabies carriers.

Any mammal can carry and spread the virus, however smaller mammals like rodents seldom contract the disease or spread it. Additionally, rabbits are unlikely to transfer rabies.

Symptoms

The five phases of rabies development are as follows:

  • incubation
  • prodrome
  • acute neurological period
  • coma
  • death

Incubation

The period of incubation is when no symptoms are present. Depending on where the virus entered the body and how many viral particles were involved, it typically lasts between two and three months and can last anywhere from one week to one year. The consequences are likely to manifest sooner the closer the bite is to the brain.

When symptoms start to show, rabies is typically already lethal. Without waiting for symptoms to appear, anyone who has been exposed to the virus should seek medical attention right once.

Prodrome

Early, flu-like symptoms appear during prodrome and include:

  • a temperature of at least 100.4°F (38°C).
  • headache
  • anxiety
  • feeling ill overall
  • coughing and a painful throat
  • nauseous and dizzy
  • unease at the location of the bite.

Acute neurological period

During this phase, neurologic symptoms start to appear, such as:

  • bewilderment and hostility
  • a degree of paralysis
  • uncontrollable muscular twitching
  • strenuous neck muscles
  • convulsions
  • hyperventilation and breathing issues
  • hypersalivation, or excessive salivation
  • salivating in the mouth
  • the avoidance of water; hydrophobia
  • Nightmares, hallucinations, and sleeplessness
  • male priapism, or a constant erection
  • Fear of light is known as photophobia.
  • Breathing accelerates and becomes erratic at the end of this stage.

Death and coma

A person may go into a coma, and the majority of them pass away within three days. Almost no one survives rabies during the coma stage, not even with supportive care.

Prevention

Although rabies is a dangerous illness, both individuals and governments can take precautions to avoid transmission.

Strategies consist of:

  • routine rabies vaccines for domestic animals and pets
  • limitations or prohibitions on importing animals from specific nations
  • widespread human vaccinations in various places
  • awareness and knowledge for education
  • improved access to medical care for those bitten

To lessen the number of rabid wild animals in rural Canada and the US, agencies have dropped bait with an oral vaccine.

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Important causes of Stroke you need to know about.

Important causes of Stroke you need to know about.

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What is a stroke?

A stroke happens when a blood vessel in the brain bursts and bleeds or when the blood supply to the brain is cut off. Blood and oxygen cannot reach the brain’s tissues because of the rupture or obstruction.

Stroke is a primary cause of death in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 795,000 Americans experience a stroke each year. Brain tissue and cells are damaged and start to die within minutes of being oxygen-deprived.

Strokes often come in three different forms:

  • Temporary ischemia. A blood clot causes a transient ischemic attack (TIA), which normally resolves on its own.
  • Ischemic stroke. It involves an obstruction in the artery brought on by a clot or plaque. The signs and problems of an ischemic stroke may persist permanently or linger longer than those of a TIA.
  • Hemorrhagic stroke. A blood vessel that seeps into the brain either bursts or leaks, which is the source of the condition.

Strokes are often fatal. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), there were 37.6 age-adjusted deaths for every 100,000 stroke diagnosis in 2017. This fatality rate is 13.6% lower than it was in 2007 thanks to medical advances in the treatment of strokes.

How does a stroke affect my body?

What a heart attack is to your heart, strokes are to your brain. When you suffer a stroke, a portion of your brain loses blood flow, preventing that part of your brain from receiving oxygen. The afflicted brain cells become oxygen-starved and quit functioning correctly without oxygen.

Your brain cells will perish if you deprive them of oxygen for too long. If enough brain cells in a particular region perish, the damage is irreversible, and you risk losing the abilities that region used to regulate. Restoring blood flow, however, might stop that kind of harm from occurring or at least lessen how bad it is. Time is therefore very important when treating a stroke.

What causes a stroke?

Hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes can occur for a variety of reasons. Blood clots are typically the cause of ischemic strokes. These can occur for a number of causes, including:

  • Atherosclerosis.
  • bleeding issues.
  • Heart fibrillation (especially when it happens due to sleep apnea).
  • Heart problems (atrial septal defect or ventricular septal defect).
  • ischemia microvascular disease (which can block smaller blood vessels in your brain).

There are other more causes of hemorrhagic strokes, including:

  • High blood pressure, especially when it is present for an extended period of time, when it is extremely high, or both.
  • Hemorrhagic strokes can occasionally result from brain aneurysms.
    brain cancer (including cancer).
  • diseases like moyamoya disease can weaken or result in unexpected abnormalities in the blood vessels in your brain.

Related conditions

A person’s likelihood of having a stroke can also be influenced by various other ailments and elements. These consist of:

  • a drinking disorder.
  • elevated blood pressure (this can play a role in all types of strokes, not just hemorrhagic ones because it can contribute to blood vessel damage that makes a stroke more likely).
  • High triglycerides (hyperlipidemia).
  • Migraine headaches (they can resemble stroke symptoms, and sufferers of migraines, particularly those who experience auras, also have an increased lifetime chance of developing a stroke).
  • diabetes type 2.
  • smoking and using other tobacco products (including vaping and smokeless tobacco).
  • drug addiction (including prescription and non-prescription drugs).

Stroke symptoms

Damage to brain tissues results from reduced blood supply to the brain. The body components that are regulated by the brain damage-related areas show signs of a stroke.

The better the prognosis for someone experiencing a stroke, the earlier they receive treatment. Because of this, being aware of the symptoms of a stroke will help you take prompt action. Some signs of a stroke include:

  • paralysis
  • Arm, face, or leg numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body
  • difficulty communicating or comprehending others
  • muddled speech
  • Lack of clarity, disorientation, or responsiveness
  • abrupt behavioural alterations, particularly increased agitation
  • visual issues, such as double vision or difficulty seeing with one or both eyes that are blurry or blacked out
  • loss of coordination or balance
  • dizziness
  • strong headache that appears out of the blue
  • seizures
  • dizziness or vomiting

Any stroke victim needs to see a doctor right away. Call your local emergency services as soon as you suspect that you or someone else is experiencing a stroke. Early intervention is essential to avoiding the following consequences:

  • brain injury
  • long-term impairment
  • death

Don’t be scared to seek emergency medical assistance if you believe you have seen the symptoms of a stroke because it’s best to be extra careful while dealing with a stroke.

Risk factors for stroke

You are more prone to stroke if you have certain risk factors. Risk factors for stroke include the following, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood InstituteTrusted Source:

  • Diet
  • Inactivity
  • heavy drinking
  • Tobacco use

Personal history

You have no control over a number of stroke risk factors, including:

  • Family background. Some families have an increased risk of stroke due to inherited health issues including high blood pressure.
  • Sex. Strokes can affect both men and women, although in all age categories, women are more likely to experience them than men, according to the CDCTrusted Source.
  • Age. The probability of having a stroke increases with age.
  • Ethnicity and race. Compared to other racial groups, African Americans, Alaska Natives, and American Indians are more likely to experience a stroke.

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How dangerous can be Polio disease for a child?

How dangerous can be Polio disease for a child?

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The poliovirus is the illness that causes polio (poliomyelitis). Most people only experience minimal or no symptoms, but in a few, it might result in death or paralysis.

The three poliovirus variants are known as wild poliovirus types 1, 2, and 3. (WPV1, WPV2 and WPV3). Only a few regions of the world still have wild polio type 1, and wild polio types 2 and 3 have been eradicated (no longer exist). Paralysis is most likely to result from type 1 polio.

In several places of the world, polio cases are still present today. International efforts to eliminate polio are still underway, despite the fact that the number of infected individuals has significantly decreased.

The inactivated poliovirus vaccine should be given as a booster dose to adults who have already received it and are travelling to a region where polio is present. After receiving a booster, immunity is permanent.

Types of polio

Depending on the parts of your body the virus targets and multiplies in, polio can have various effects on you. the following types of polio:

  • Abortive poliomyelitis manifests as intestinal and influenza-like symptoms. It doesn’t have long-lasting effects and just lasts a few days.
  • Aseptic meningitis, a brain swelling, may result from non-paralytic poliomyelitis. It results in more symptoms than abortive poliomyelitis and can necessitate a hospital stay.
  • Paralytic poliomyelitis: When the poliovirus affects your brain and spinal cord, paralytic poliomyelitis results. The muscles that allow you to breathe, speak, swallow, and move your limbs can become paralysed by it. It is referred to as spinal polio or bulbar polio, depending on which areas of your body are afflicted. Together, spinal and bulbar polio can manifest (bulbospinal polio). Only 1% of polio survivors develop paralytic poliomyelitis.
  • Polioencephalitis: A uncommon form of polio that primarily affects newborns is polioencephalitis. The brain swells as a result.
  • Post-polio syndrome: When polio symptoms reappear years after an initial infection, it is known as post-polio syndrome.

What effects does polio have on my body?

Through the mouth or nose, the poliovirus enters your body. In your gut and throat, it reproduces additional copies of itself (intestines). It can sometimes enter your brain and spinal cord and paralyse you. Your arms, legs, or the muscles that control your breathing may become paralysed.

Who is exposed to polio?

You are most vulnerable to contracting polio if if are not immunised and you:

  • reside in or visit a region where polio still exists.
  • live in or visit a place with inadequate sanitary conditions.
  • are less than 5
  • are expecting.

Can adults contract polio?

Yes, polio can strike adults. Many adults have immunity, either through vaccinations or from having polio. Unvaccinated adults who are exposed to the poliovirus can get the disease.

How widespread is polio?

Thanks to widespread immunisation campaigns, symptomatic polio is uncommon in many regions of the world. Polio is no longer distributed there, and most nations consider it to be eradicated. However, polio can start to spread again if individuals stop taking their vaccinations.

Symptoms

The majority of those who are infected with the virus don’t become sick and are unaware they are infected, despite the fact that polio can result in paralysis and death.

Polio not paralytic

Some persons who experience polio symptoms get a kind of polio that doesn’t cause paralysis (abortive polio). The mild, flu-like signs and symptoms that are typical of other viral infections are typically caused by this.

The following signs and symptoms, which may persist up to 10 days:

  • Fever
  • unwell throat
  • Headache
  • Vomiting
  • Fatigue
  • back stiffness or pain
  • neck stiffness or discomfort
  • Arms or legs that are painful or stiff
  • a weakened or painful muscle

Dyskinetic syndrome

Rarely does the disease manifest in its most severe form. Fever and headache are common early paralytic polio symptoms that can be mistaken for nonparalytic polio. But after a week, more symptoms start to show, such as:

  • decline in reflexes
  • muscular weakness or excruciating aches
  • slack and flaccid limbs (flaccid paralysis)

Poliomyelitis syndrome

Some patients have post-polio syndrome, a collection of incapacitating signs and symptoms, years after they had polio. Typical warning signs and symptoms include:

  • discomfort and deteriorating muscle or joint weakness
  • Fatigue
  • muscles are lost (atrophy)
  • issues with breathing or swallowing
  • respiratory issues that affect sleep, like sleep apnea
  • less ability to tolerate cold temperatures

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