Differences Between Ebola, Bubonic Plague, Leprosy and Spanish Flu and How They Are Treated, Plus Information on COVID Vaccines
Aajonus Vonderplanitz talks about bacteria, viruses, parasites, the flu and much more | Primal Diet
BACTERIAL INFECTIONS
Bacterial infections are caused by bacteria, and viral infections are caused by viruses. Perhaps the most important distinction between bacteria and viruses is that antibiotic drugs usually kill bacteria, but they aren't effective against viruses. Antibiotics are only needed for treating certain infections caused by bacteria, but even some bacterial infections get better without antibiotics.
Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms. They’re very diverse, coming in a variety of different shapes and sizes.
Bacteria can be found in all sorts of environments, including soil, bodies of water, and in or on our bodies. Some can survive extreme temperatures or even radiation exposure.
Although there are a great many bacteria in and on our bodies, these bacteria often don’t cause disease. In fact, the bacteria in our digestive tract can help us digest our food.
However, sometimes bacteria can enter our bodies and cause an infection.
Some examples of bacterial infections include:
- strep throat
- bacterial urinary tract infections (UTIs), often caused by coliform bacteria
- bacterial food poisoning, often caused by E. coli, Salmonella, or Shigella
- bacterial cellulitis, such as due to Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
- bacterial vaginosis
- gonorrhea
- chlamydia
- syphilis
- Clostridium difficile (C. diff)
- tuberculosis
- whooping cough
- pneumococcal pneumonia
- bacterial meningitis
- Lyme disease
- cholera
- botulism
- tetanus
- anthrax
Possible treatments
Bacterial infections are most often treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics are medications that affect bacterial growth. They can either impede bacteria from multiplying or kill them outright.
There are different classes of antibiotics. The one you’re prescribed will depend on what type of bacterium is causing your infection. Additionally, misuse of antibiotics has caused many bacteria to develop resistance to them.
If you’re prescribed antibiotics for a bacterial infection, take the entire course of antibiotics — even if you begin to feel better after a few days. Not doing this can prevent the infection from clearing and can contribute to antibiotic resistance.
FUNGAL INFECTIONS
Fungi are another diverse group of organisms that can include things like yeasts and molds. They can be found throughout the environment, including in the soil, indoors in moist areas like bathrooms, and on or in our bodies.
Sometimes fungi are so small that you can’t see them with the naked eye. Other times, you’re able to see them, such as when you notice mold on your bathroom tile.
Not all fungi can make you ill, but some examples of fungal infections include:
- vaginal yeast infections
- ringworm
- athlete’s foot
- thrush
- aspergillosis
- histoplasmosis
- Cryptococcus infection
- fungal meningitis
Possible treatments
Fungal infections can be treated with antifungal medications. The type of medication that you’re prescribed will depend on the type of fungal infection you have.
For example, a topical antifungal cream may be prescribed for conditions like ringworm or athlete’s foot. Oral antifungal medications are also available. More severe fungal infections may require intravenous (IV) antifungal medication.
PARASITIC INFECTIONS
Parasites live on or in a host organism and get food or other nutrients at the host’s expense.
There are three types of parasites that can cause illness in humans:
Protozoa: small, one-celled organisms
Helminths: larger, worm-like organisms
Ectoparasites: organisms such as fleas, ticks, and lice
Some examples of infections that are caused by parasites include:
- malaria
- toxoplasmosis
- trichomoniasis
- giardiasis
- tapeworm infection
- roundworm infection
- pubic and head lice
- scabies
- leishmaniasis
- river blindness
Possible treatments
As with bacterial and fungal infections, there are specific drugs available to treat a parasitic infection. The type of antiparasitic medication that you’ll need to take will depend on the type of parasite that’s causing your infection.
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Viruses are very tiny infectious organisms. They’re even smaller than bacteria. Viruses are parasitic and require a host cell in which to carry out their life cycle.
Some examples of viral infections include:
- influenza (the flu)
- common cold
- measles
- rubella
- chickenpox
- norovirus
- polio
- infectious mononucleosis (mono)
- herpes simplex virus (HSV)
- human papillomavirus (HPV)
- human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- viral hepatitis, which can include hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E
- viral meningitis
- West Nile Virus
- rabies
- ebola
Possible treatments of viral infections
Most of the time, the treatment of viral infections centers on relieving symptoms until your immune system clears the infection.
In some cases, antiviral drugs may be available to help treat a viral infection. Some examples of viral infections for which antivirals are available include HIV, herpes, and hepatitis C.
Some viruses stay with you for life once you’ve been infected. They can lie dormant within your body and may reactivate. Some examples include herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV).
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When a person is first exposed to the flu virus, the immune system makes antibodies for this receptor. Those antibodies stick around throughout a person’s life, providing protection against other flu viruses in that group [source], by preventing the virus from entering host cells and by inhibiting replication. [Source]
Influenza A and B Antibodies - Influenza Type A and B viruses cause seasonal outbreaks of "the flu". Each winter, approximately 10-20% of the population are infected. Both Type A and B are included in the flu vaccine. [Source]
Cold and flu viruses mutate so rapidly that sometimes they're unrecognizable to the antibodies created by the body in response to any particular vaccine. It turns out, however, that those antibodies — unlike those against illnesses like tetanus or whooping cough — can provide a formidable and life-long defense against the flu, as long as they're pitted against the correct strain. [Source]
WHAT ARE ANTIBODIES, AND DO THEY KILL VIRUSES?
By John Kelly, Senior Research Editor at Dictionary.com
Testing continues to be a major story — and concern — amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
This includes diagnostic testing to determine if one is infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.
It also includes serological tests to determine if a person has antibodies that can signal immunity to COVID-19.
But what does serological mean, and what are antibodies, for that matter? As the coronavirus pandemic evolves, we know that vocabulary and concepts evolve with it. Continuing our mission to keep you informed and up-to-date, we’re providing a primer to very complicated topics, and terms, in immunology —c omplete with a handy glossary to all things antibodies at the end.
What is immunity?
Before we can discuss antibodies, we need to take a big-picture look at the immune system. The immune system is an incredibly complex network of cells that identify and defend against foreign substances in your body.
It includes the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes and lymph tissue, stem cells, white blood cells, antibodies, and lymphokines.
One major type of foreign substances the immune system fends off are pathogens: infectious agents, especially viruses and bacteria, that cause disease.
Your body has immunity when it is resistant to a particular disease. This immunity is usually indicated by the presence of a critical part of the immune system: antibodies.
Antibodies vs. antigens
Antibodies are special protein molecules that the immune system produces in response to antigens. And antigens are substances that can stimulate the body’s production of antibodies.
Now, there are different types of antigens, but, for our purposes here, let’s zoom in on foreign, disease-causing antigens. These are harmful substances that come from outside the body, such as from viruses or bacteria.
The body wants to fight antigens off, so it recognizes these substances and starts making antibodies.
Antibodies are able to latch onto the antigens using a unique binding site, which then disables the invaders.
Put simply, the body makes antibodies to fend off germs and other harmful substances. And this process is part of the body’s immune response.
Learn more about this interconnected (and yes, confusing) pair of words, antibody and antigen, in our article “‘Antibiotic’ vs. ‘Abiotic’ vs. ‘Antibody’: What Is The Difference?”
How antibodies work
Antibodies are produced by B cells, also called B lymphocytes, which are made in bone marrow and found in the blood and lymph. Antibodies have a distinctive Y shape, which is key to how they work.
At the tips of antibodies are the unique sites where they bind with a matching site on antigens — and destroy them.
Abbreviated as Ab, antibodies are also referred to as immunoglobulins, abbreviated as Ig. Specifically, immunoglobulins are the special proteins that function as antibodies. They are found in plasma (the liquid part of blood and lymph), other body fluids, and in the membrane of certain cells.
There are five classes of immunoglobulins, which can be described by where they are found and what their function is:
IgA (immunoglobulin A): found in breathing and digestive passages as well as in saliva, tears, and blood, among other places; helps protect surfaces that are exposed to foreign substances from outside the body
IgD (immunoglobulin D): found in cells in tissues in the chest and belly; function as receptors; least understood of the immunoglobulins
IgE (immunoglobulin E): found in lung, skin, and mucous membranes; help expel parasites in the intestines and are involved in allergic reactions
IgG (immunoglobulin G): found in all body fluids; critical to fighting infections from viruses and bacteria; only antibodies that can pass over the placenta from mother to fetus; most common but smallest antibody
IgM (immunoglobulin M): found in blood and lymph fluid; first antibody to respond to an infection; largest antibody
IgG and IgM are two of the key players in your body when it comes to warding off infectious diseases.
What is serum?
Among other proteins, blood serum contains antibodies, which, as we saw above, indicate immunity to a specific disease. Serum is a clear, pale-yellow liquid that separates out from the clot when blood is coagulated.
When antibodies are identified in the blood serum of animals with an immunity to a disease, the serum may be injected into other animals in an effort to transfer that immunity.
Word break: where does the word serum come from? Serum derives directly from the Latin serum, meaning “whey.” Blood serum was originally likened to whey, the watery liquid that is separated out from curds in the cheese-making process.
The adjective form of serum is serous — not to be confused with serious, though serum is indeed a serious matter.
What is a serological test?
Now, the combining form of serum is sero, which appears in a number of intimidating-seeming words that frequently come up in discussions of infectious disease.
Serology (literally, “study of serum”) is the science dealing with the immunological properties and actions of serum. Its adjective is serological, and a specialist in serology is a serologist.
One major job of serologists is to test serum for antibodies. A serological test, also called an antibody test, detects antibodies in the blood when the body’s immune system is responding to a specific infection.
Serological tests determine your serostatus: whether or not you have detectable antibodies against a particular antigen. Your serodiagnosis can be seropositive (your serum tests positive for detectable antibodies against the antigen) or seronegative (your serum tests negative for detectable antibodies against the specific antigen).
Seropositive, in everyday terms, means you have the antibody to fend off a particular disease.
Now, when a person develops those specific antibodies when they were not previously detectable, that process is known as seroconversion. Seroconversion happens as a result of infection or immunization, which leads us to our final important distinction.
For more serological terms, see the definitions of seroprevalence, seroprotection, serosurvey, and serosurveillance from the World Health Organization included in our glossary below.
Active immunity vs. passive immunity
Quick review: your body has immunity when it is resistant to a specific disease.
Now, there are two ways the body develops this all-important immunity: passive immunity and active immunity.
Passive immunity provides more temporary protection from the injection of antibodies (or certain lymphocytes) from other immune organisms. One of the most common sources of passive immunity in humans is the transfer of antibodies through the placenta to infants.
Active immunity is protection resulting from your own immune system. It is much longer lasting, and sometimes lasts for a person’s entire life — making it much more advantageous.
There are two ways to gain active immunity to a specific disease:
Surviving infection with the actual disease (natural immunity)
Getting a vaccine of a killed or weakened form of the disease (vaccine-induced immunity)
Active immunity results from when a person produces their own antibodies through exposure to the disease.
Passive immunity results from when a person is given antibodies to a disease.
Both vaccines and antibiotics are used to treat infectious diseases. There are vaccines that work against both viruses and bacterias. Antibiotics, however, only work against bacteria and other microorganisms.
Vaccines stimulate antibody production in the body.
Antibiotics inhibit the growth of or destroy bacteria or other microorganisms.
Antibodies and coronavirus treatment
So, what does this all mean for COVID-19? Serological tests for antibodies to COVID-19 are important. As the Food and Drug Administration explains:
“Experience with other viruses suggests that individuals whose blood contains antibodies associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection — provided they are recovered and not currently infected with the virus — may be able to resume work and other daily activities in society. They may also be eligible to serve as potential donors of convalescent plasma.”
Serological tests can also greatly help the medical community understand immune response to COVID-19. But, current tests have limitations (none have been validated for diagnosing infection with COVID-19, for instance), and there are concerns about their reliability (some have yielded false positives). Furthermore, the WHO reports: “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.”
HOW VIRUSES WORK AND HOW TO ELIMINATE THEM NATURALLY
In response to infection, your immune system springs into action. An army of white blood cells, antibodies and other mechanisms goes to work to rid your body of whatever is causing the infection. For instance, in fighting off the common cold, your body might react with fever, coughing and sneezing. [Source]March 13, 2020
We have identified more than 2,000 viruses, though only 10% infect humans. Scientists used to think human viruses do not affect animals and animal viruses do not affect humans, but we now know that viruses not only jump species, sometimes they combine to create new strains. New strains can present a clear threat to human survival.
In 1918 the Spanish flu pandemic was a global killer. Estimates of the dead range from 20-100 million, up to 5% of the population–all within one year. Unlike previous flu pandemics and epidemics, this flu strain killed healthy adults, whereas most flu strains targeted children, the elderly, and the infirmed. More people died in this one-year pandemic than the four years of the bubonic plague.
We often hear that many dangerous strains of influenza begin in China. This belief is based on the dense population of humans living in close proximity to high populations of animals. Many dangerous viral strains have been found to originate in China jumping from birds or pigs to the human population. Birds alone have been found to carry as many as 15 viral strains.
A virus is a pathogenic, parasitic organism that isn’t classified as being alive, since a cell is an essential to our definition of life. A virus has no cell membrane, no metabolism, no respiration and cannot replicate outside of a living cell.
A virus is a creepy half-live, single strand or double strand of DNA or RNA or both, looking for a cell to invade.
Once inside, it reprograms the cell with its DNA or RNA and multiplies on mass, bursting through the cell with a thousand or more new virus strands seeking new cells to invade.
RNA viruses mutate more easily than DNA viruses. (SARS, bird flu, West Nile virus, swine flu, hepatitis, measles, polio, yellow fever, and Ebola are among the many RNA viruses).
If two viruses invade the same cell (a bird virus and a human virus, for instance) their DNA can combine to form a new virus, a potentially virulent one. The same is true if two animal viruses combine and jump species to humans.
Viruses have two life cycles: the lytic cycle and the lysogenic cycle.
In the lytic cycle, the virus focuses on reproduction. It invades a cell, inserts its DNA and creates thousands of copies of itself, bursts through the cell membrane, killing the cell, and each new viral strand invades new cells replicating the process.
In the lysogenic cycle, viruses remain dormant within its host cells. The virus may remain dormant for years. Herpes and chickenpox are good examples. (Chicken pox can cause shingles in later life when the dormant virus reactivates.)
Our bodies fight off invading organisms, including viruses, all the time. Our first line of defense is the skin, mucous, and stomach acid. If we inhale a virus, mucous traps it and tries to expel it. If it is swallowed, stomach acid may kill it. If the virus gets past the first line of defense, the innate immune system comes into play. The phagocytes wage war and release interferon to protect surrounding cells. If they cannot destroy the invading force, the phagocytes call the lymphocytes into play.
Our lymphocytes, T cells and B cells, retain a memory of any previous infection that was serious enough to bring them into the battle.
Antibodies were formed and the body knows how to fight any infection it recognizes. (This is how vaccinations work. The body has fought a similar infection). But viruses can mutate, sometimes so much that they body cannot recognize them as a similar infection they fought in the past. They can also be so fast acting, they can kill before the lymphocytes are brought into play.
Antiviral medications do not directly kill the virus; they trap it within the cell, keeping it from reproducing. The only catch is that the anti-viral has to be taken with 48 hours of symptom onset or it doesn’t work.
Antibiotics don’t kill viruses. They kill bacteria, not viruses. And they kill good bacteria that we need to keep our gut in balance. Taking antibiotics when you have a viral infection can cause an immediate overgrowth of Candida, giving the immune system an additional system-wide infection to deal with when it needs all of its resources to fight a viral infection.
Conventional treatment is supportive treatment — fluids, medications for symptoms (such as asthma medication), but no medications have ever been developed to kill the virus itself.
Don’t panic. Most viruses don’t affect us. But still, it brings up a point. Viral infections are a symptom of a weak immune system. Your immune system is wholly dependent on your gut health. A sick gut has an abundance of fungi and other pathogens, and a healthy gut has a wide variety of beneficial bacteria. The supplements listed below are a half measure. A healthy nutrient dense diet, a healthy lifestyle, and a body void of as many toxins as possible is the first and foremost defense.
A healthy immune system begins in the gut with a healthy balance of beneficial bacteria. For far too many Americans, Candida overgrowth compromises the immune system, as it is constantly fighting the battle to keep Candida in control.
If you do become ill, DO NOT feed the virus or the Candida with sugar. Yes, you need to drink a lot of fluids, but don’t drink sodas and sugary juices at this time. Cranberry lemonade sweetened with stevia is a good choice. Try it warm or cold.
Gargle. Gargle. Gargle. Gargling lowers the viral load, leaving your body with fewer invaders to replicate. Gargle with organic apple cider vinegar. Even better, sip on this Mother Earth Organic Root Cider. Cold’s and flu often start in the throat or the nasal cavities. At the first sign of a sore throat or sinus infection, sip on the root cider! If you don’t have it, use apple cider vinegar.
Also, remember that a fever is one of nature’s means to fight infection. Of course, you don’t want it to get too high (higher than 102) and drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration.
Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E are all vital nutrients for the immune system. If you take high doses of vitamin C to fight a virus, remember that you should not abruptly stop taking vitamin C. You should titrate down.
Vitamin C is needed by the immune system to make interferon, which the immune system produces to protect healthy cells from viral invasion.
Zinc has been proven to be effective against the common cold and to be effective as a topical treatment for herpes sores. It is believed to be effective due to preventing replication of the virus. The immune system needs selenium to work properly and to build up the white blood cell count.
Berberine is an alkaloid compound found in several different plants, including European barberry, goldenseal, goldthread, Oregon grape, Phellodendron, and Coptis chinensis. It has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anti-parasitic, and immune-enhancing properties. It’s been proven effective against a vast array of bacteria, protozoa, and fungi. It can be used topically on cuts and other wounds, and it’s perhaps most commonly used to treat gastrointestinal issues.
Probiotics are always helpful in maintaining gut health, especially when the body is under a viral attack that involves the digestive system. Probiotic foods and drinks without added sugar can help maintain a healthy balance of bacteria.
Garlic is anti-viral, anti-fungal, and antibacterial. You can take garlic in a tonic or if you can handle it, chew raw garlic. It not only will help fight the virus, it will help kill any secondary infections trying to take root.
Echinacea not only supports the immune system, it also has been proven to reduce the severity and duration of viral infections.
Colloidal silver is believed to interfere with the enzymes that allow viruses (bacteria and fungi as well) to utilize oxygen.
A double-blind trial showed elderberry extract’s ability to reduce symptoms of influenza and speed recovery. It also showed elderberry’s ability to enhance immune response with higher levels of antibodies in the blood. It is believed to inhibit a virus’s ability to penetrate healthy cells and protect cells with powerful antioxidant S. Elderberry has also been shown to inhibit replication in four strains of herpes viruses and reduce infectivity of HIV strains.
The flavonoids in green tea are believed to fight viral infections by preventing the virus from entering host cells and by inhibiting replication.
Though double-blind clinical trials are needed, olive leaf extract has been shown to inhibit replication of viruses. In one study, 115 of 119 patients had a full and rapid recovery from respiratory tract infections while 120 of 172 had a full and rapid recovery from viral skin infections such as herpes.
Pau d’arco has been used in indigenous medicine for generations. One of its compounds, lapachol, has proven effective against various viruses, including influenza, herpes simplex types I and II and poliovirus. It is believed to inhibit replication.
Studies have shown that glycyrrhizin, a compound found in licorice root was more effective in fighting samples of coronavirus from SARS patients than four antiviral drugs. It reduces viral replication, cell absorption, and the virus’s ability to penetrate cells. It is also being used to treat HIV.
St. John’s Wort has been proven effective against influenza, herpes simplex, and HIV.
If you’re prone to viral infections or are dealing with a chronic infection like HIV, as mentioned above, the first step is to get your gut in shape. This is absolutely imperative. The best article to do that with is Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections & Gut Health. Everyone who is chronically ill has an abundance of Candida. Yes, everyone.
SYMPTOMS OF INFECTIONS
The symptoms of an infection can vary depending on the type of infection that you have. Some general symptoms that can indicate you may have an infection include:
- fever or chills
- body aches and pains
- feeling tired or fatigued
- coughing or sneezing
- digestive upset, such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
There are some situations that should always trigger a visit to your doctor.
See a doctor if you have:
- symptoms that worsen or don’t improve with at-home care
- symptoms that are prolonged or recur
- difficulty breathing
- a severe headache that occurs with a high fever
- a rash
- unexplained swelling
- a bite from an animal
It’s also possible for you to have an infection without having any symptoms. Some examples of infections that don’t always cause symptoms include HPV, gonorrhea, and chlamydia.
Causes of infection transmission
You can get an infection in many different ways.
Direct contact
Some, but not all, infections can spread when you come directly into contact with a person who has an infection, whether through touching, kissing, or having sex.
Direct contact with the bodily fluids of a person who has an infection can also spread infections in some instances. This can include things like:
- blood
- nasal secretions
- saliva
- semen
- vaginal secretions
Lastly, some infections can be spread directly from an infected mother to her child either through the placenta or during childbirth.
Indirect contact
Some infectious organisms can be found throughout your environment. You can come into contact with these things and then spread the infection to yourself.
A common example of this is when someone with the flu coughs or sneezes. Influenza virus can then be present in the air or on objects such as door and faucet handles. If you touch a contaminated object and then touch your face, mouth, or nose, you may become infected.
Through contaminated food or water
In some cases, food or water may be contaminated with infectious organisms. You can get these infections by consuming things like:
- foods prepped or prepared in unsanitary conditions
- raw or undercooked foods, such as produce, meats, or seafood
- improperly canned foods
- unpasteurized milks or juices
- foods that have been improperly stored or refrigerated
From an infected animal
Some infections are spread to people from an infected animal. One example is the rabies virus, which you can get if an infected animal bites you.
Another example is toxoplasmosis. You can come down with this parasitic disease from changing an infected cat’s litter box.
From a bug bite
There are many different types of biting bugs, including ticks, mosquitoes, and lice. In some cases, you can get an infection if a bug carrying around an infectious microorganism bites you. Some examples include malaria, Lyme disease, and West Nile Virus.
Not all infections are spread in the same way. While one infection may be transmitted via infected blood, another may be transmitted by the bite of an insect. It’s always important to consider the specific infection when talking about transmission.
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THE COMMON COLD (Viral Infection)
By The Mayo Clinic
The common cold is a viral infection of your nose and throat (upper respiratory tract). It's usually harmless, although it might not feel that way. Many types of viruses can cause a common cold. Most people recover from a common cold in a week or 10 days. In general, you don't need to see the doctor for a common cold.
Causes
Although many types of viruses (including coronaviruses) can cause a common cold, rhinoviruses are the most common culprit.
A cold virus enters your body through your mouth, eyes or nose.
The virus can spread through droplets in the air when someone who is sick coughs, sneezes or talks.
It also spreads by hand-to-hand contact with someone who has a cold or by sharing contaminated objects, such as utensils, towels, toys or telephones.
If you touch your eyes, nose or mouth after such contact or exposure, you're likely to catch a cold.
Risk factors
These factors can increase your chances of getting a cold:
Age. Children younger than 6 are at greatest risk of colds, especially if they spend time in child-care settings.
Weakened immune system. Having a chronic illness or otherwise weakened immune system increases your risk.
Time of year. Both children and adults are more susceptible to colds in fall and winter, but you can get a cold anytime.
Smoking. You're more likely to catch a cold and to have more-severe colds if you're exposed to cigarette smoke.
Exposure. If you're around many people, such as at school or on an airplane, you're likely to be exposed to viruses that cause colds.
Complications
Acute ear infection (otitis media). This occurs when bacteria or viruses enter the space behind the eardrum. Typical signs and symptoms include earaches and, in some cases, a green or yellow discharge from the nose or the return of a fever following a common cold.
Asthma. A cold can trigger an asthma attack.
Acute sinusitis. In adults or children, a common cold that doesn't resolve can lead to inflammation and infection of the sinuses (sinusitis).
Other secondary infections. These include strep throat (streptococcal pharyngitis), pneumonia, and croup or bronchiolitis in children. These infections need to be treated by a doctor.
Prevention
There's no vaccine for the common cold, but you can take commonsense precautions to slow the spread of cold viruses:
Wash your hands. Clean your hands thoroughly and often with soap and water, and teach your children the importance of hand-washing. If soap and water aren't available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Disinfect your stuff. Clean kitchen and bathroom countertops with disinfectant, especially when someone in your family has a cold. Wash children's toys periodically.
Use tissues. Sneeze and cough into tissues. Discard used tissues right away, then wash your hands carefully.
Teach children to sneeze or cough into the bend of their elbow when they don't have a tissue. That way they cover their mouths without using their hands.
Don't share. Don't share drinking glasses or utensils with other family members. Use your own glass or disposable cups when you or someone else is sick. Label the cup or glass with the name of the person with the cold.
Steer clear of colds. Avoid close contact with anyone who has a cold.
Choose your child care center wisely. Look for a child care setting with good hygiene practices and clear policies about keeping sick children at home.
Take care of yourself. Eating well, getting exercise and enough sleep, and managing stress might help you keep colds at bay.
How Does the COVID-19 (Viral Infection) Compare to the 1918 Spanish Flu (Viral Infection)?
March 24, 2020
As the number of coronavirus cases grows worldwide, it may be easy to compare the new virus to another global pandemic that dates back to the early 20th century: the Spanish flu.
Widely known as the most severe and deadly pandemic in modern history, Spanish flu didn’t actually come from Spain. The “1918 flu” broke out during World War I, and in a bid to sustain morale on the front and at home, warring countries minimized early reports of cases and deaths caused by the 1918 flu.
But because Spain remained neutral during the war, its press was free to report deaths, leading many to believe the country was hard-hit by the pandemic. Over 100 years later, the name stuck.
It’s not exactly clear where the flu originated. In the U.S., it was first identified in military personnel in the spring of 1918.
The CDC estimates about 500 million people, or about one-third of the world’s population at the time, became infected with the virus. It’s unclear exactly how many died of the virus due to medical records at the time, but estimates top off around 50 million deaths including 675,000 Americans.
Now vs. then
Because of COVID-19’s global spread, it’s easy to compare the two viruses — but realize there have been 102 years between the pandemics.
In those 102 years, public health has changed dramatically, the world’s population has grown from around 1.5 billion to over 7 billion, and the advent of air travel and global supply chains have connected far corners of the world.
The world’s population is also far older, and COVID-19 has shown especially problematic for seniors.
But to keep it in perspective: COVID-19 would have to infect thousands of times as many people as it has right now to compare to the 1918 flu.
The best advice healthcare professionals can give? Keep your distance, wash your hands, and stay home if you feel sick.
WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS IN THE MODERNA COVID-19 VACCINE?
COVID-19 vaccines use a genetic sequence instead of killed or weakened viruses to create an immune response.
The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine contains:
• messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) - a synthetic variation on the natural substance that directs protein production in cells throughout the body,
• tromethamine,
• tromethamine hydrochloride,
• acetic acid,
• sodium acetate,
• sucrose, and
• the following lipids:
SM-102 (heptadecan-9-yl 8-((2-hydroxyethyl) (6-oxo-6-(undecyloxy) hexyl) amino) octanoate) is a proprietary ionizable lipid used to form lipid nanoparticles, polyethylene glycol [PEG] 2000, dimyristoyl glycerol [DMG], cholesterol, and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine [DSPC]
Moderna made a splash in 2012 with the announcement that it had raised $40 million from venture capitalists despite being years away from testing its science in humans. Four months later, the British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca agreed to pay Moderna a staggering $240 million for the rights to dozens of mRNA drugs that did not yet exist.
Moderna’s promise — and the more than $2 billion it raised before going public in 2018 — hinged on creating a fleet of mRNA medicines that could be safely dosed over and over. But behind the scenes the company’s scientists were running into a familiar problem. In animal studies, the ideal dose of their leading mRNA therapy was triggering dangerous immune reactions — the kind for which Karikó had improvised a major workaround under some conditions — but a lower dose had proved too weak to show any benefits.
Moderna had to pivot. If repeated doses of mRNA were too toxic to test in human beings, the company would have to rely on something that takes only one or two injections to show an effect. Gradually, biotech’s self-proclaimed disruptor became a vaccines company, putting its experimental drugs on the back burner and talking up the potential of a field long considered a loss-leader by the drug industry.
When BioNTech went public in October 2019, it raised $150 million, and closed with a market value of $3.4 billion — less than half of Moderna’s when it went public in 2018.
A pandemic loomed. The companies’ focus on vaccines could not have been more fortuitous.
Moderna and BioNTech each designed a tiny snip of genetic code that could be deployed into cells to stimulate a coronavirus immune response.
The biotechs were competing against dozens of other groups that employed varying vaccine-making approaches, including the traditional, more time-consuming method of using an inactivated virus to produce an immune response.
Moderna was especially well-positioned for this moment.
On May 18, Moderna issued a press release trumpeting “positive interim clinical data.” The firm said its vaccine had generated neutralizing antibodies in the first eight volunteers in the early-phase study, a tiny sample.
But Moderna didn’t provide any backup data, making it hard to assess how encouraging the results were. Nonetheless, Moderna’s share price rose 20% that day.
Some top Moderna executives also drew criticism for selling shares worth millions, including Bancel and the firm’s chief medical officer, Tal Zaks.
In addition, some critics have said the government has given Moderna a sweetheart deal by bankrolling the costs for developing the vaccine and pledging to buy at least 100 million doses, all for $2.48 billion.
That works out to roughly $25 a dose, which Moderna acknowledges includes a profit.
In contrast, the government has pledged more than $1 billion to Johnson & Johnson to manufacture and provide at least 100 million doses of its vaccine, which uses different technology than mRNA. But J&J, which collaborated with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Center for Virology and Vaccine Research and is also in a late-stage trial, has promised not to profit off sales of the vaccine during the pandemic.
The soaring share prices of BioNTech and Moderna have made both Sahin and Bancel billionaires, according to Forbes.
Some experts worry about injecting the first vaccine of this kind into hundreds of million of people so quickly.
“You have all these odd clinical and pathological changes caused by this novel bat coronavirus, and you’re about to meet it with all of these vaccines with which you have no experience,” said Paul Offit, an infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an authority on vaccines.
[Source]
– There are very real risks associated with mRNA vaccines, including “enhanced” inflammation and auto-immune reactions, where the body’s cells are inadvertently programmed to attack critical proteins required for normal health (such as hormones).
– The profit-motivated rush to deploy mRNA vaccines to prevent the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus is causing regulators and researchers to skip (or accelerate) many critical steps in quality control and clinical trials. This is likely to result in catastrophic consequences — unintended side effects — if such vaccines are granted approval for widespread deployment without proper long-term clinical trials.
– mRNA vaccines could be maliciously exploited to weaponize vaccines to target critical physiological functions in humans. This is similar in effect to “RNA interference” technology which is a gene suppressing innovation that has been studied for use as an insect-killing pesticide technology in crops. Although the mechanisms of mRNA vaccines and RNA interference technology are very different, they can achieve many of the same outcomes such as induced infertility or death in targeted organisms, which could include humans. Technically, this could also be exploited to target specific genetic subgroups of humans such as those of African descent.
– The best current application of mRNA vaccines seems to be found in personalized medicine cancer treatment applications, where “vaccines” are customized to teach the body’s immune system to attack and kill cancer cells.
– A reasonable tolerance risk for mRNA vaccine side effects would be proportional to the mortality risk of the pathogen or disease condition the vaccine is treating. For example, if stage IV cancer kills 80% of patients, and a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine cures 50% of patients while killing 5% of patients, the lives-saved-to-patients-killed ratio is 10:1, which would arguably be a reasonable risk to assume. However, if an mRNA coronavirus vaccine is widely given to healthy individuals who are at very low risk of mortality to begin with, then if the mRNA coronavirus vaccine kills 1 in 1,000 of those people (for example), the vaccine might cause far higher mortality figures than the pathogen itself.
How mRNA vaccines work… hint: They’re not really “vaccines” at all
The term “vaccine” is actually a misnomer. The mRNA approach doesn’t infect the body with a weakened (“attenuated”) virus but rather commands the body’s cells to manufacture specific molecules that trick the immune system into thinking a pathogen is present. In the context of vaccines, these molecules are called “antigens,” and when these antigens are produced inside the body’s cells and subsequently presented to the cell surface, the immune system, in ideal circumstances, sees these antigens as invaders and builds an active immune response to eliminate those antigens.
If the antigens are structured in a way that resembles the targeted viral pathogen — such as the Wuhan coronavirus — the body’s immune response should offer protection against the actual coronavirus.
With mRNA vaccines, what’s injected into the body isn’t a weakened virus or even selected antigens but rather protein coding instructions that tell your body’s cells how to make the antigens on their own. (That process is called “translation.”) It’s sort of like writing down and delivering to someone a set of instructions for building a catapult to protect the castle. Instead of building catapults and delivering them to the castle, you’re telling the inhabitants inside the castle how to build their own catapults to fend off invaders.
In theory, mRNA vaccines offer extraordinary advantages over traditional vaccines. They’re safer to manufacture and a lot faster to make. They’re clean (i.e. they will not contain latent viruses found in the animals used to grow traditional vaccines) and typically require no adjuvants or other toxic additives in order to work as intended. Furthermore, they can direct the body to manufacture almost any protein imaginable. That’s how it works in theory, of course.
But they also present enormous risks, and if the deployment of mRNA vaccines is rushed, the results could be catastrophic. Additionally, mRNA vaccines can be maliciously deployed to deliberately trick the human body into attacking its own critical functions such as fertility, neurological function, cell repair and other critical processes.
[Source]
Five Risks of mRNA Vaccines:
https://www.newswars.com/mrna-vaccines-might-prove-catastrophic-in-a-rushed-coronavirus-response/
COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Common Side Effects:
The COVID-19 virus is no plague. Though quite contagious, its infection/fatality rate (IFR), about 0.01 percent, is that of the average flu, and its effects are generally so mild that most whom it infects never know it. Literate persons know that, once an infectious disease enters a population, nothing can prevent it from infecting all of it, until a majority has developed antibodies after contracting it — so-called community immunity or herd immunity. But fear leads people to empower those who promise safety, regardless of how empty the promises. The media pressed governments to do something. The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan screamed: “don’t panic is terrible advice.” The pharmaceutical industry and its Wall Street backers salivated at the prospect of billions of government money for new drugs and vaccines. Never mind the little sense it makes for millions of people to accept a vaccine’s non-trivial risk to protect against a virus with trivial consequences for themselves. All manner of officials yearned to wield unaccountable power. Within nine months, COVID-19 had produced 28 new billionaires.
https://amgreatness.com/2021/01/19/clarity-in-trumps-wake/
The vaccines use the piece of the encoded SARs-CoV-2 protein to trigger an immune response in your body. How? The mRNA gives your cells instructions to produce a protein that’s similar to the coronavirus’ spike protein, tricking your system into thinking it has an infection to fight.
April 22, 2020
The largest analysis of hospitalized U.S. COVID-19 patients to date finds that most did not survive after being placed on a mechanical ventilator.
The study included the health records of 5,700 COVID-19 patients hospitalized between March 1 and April 4 at facilities overseen by Northwell Health, New York State's largest health system.
Among the 2,634 patients for whom outcomes were known, the overall death rate was 21%, but it rose to 88% for those who received mechanical ventilation, the Northwell Health COVID-19 Research Consortium reported.
The new findings "provide a crucial early insight into the front-line response to the COVID-19 outbreak in New York," Dr. Kevin Tracey, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, said in a Northwell Health news release.
The findings also add fuel to the notion that ventilators may sometimes do more harm than good for patients battling for life with severe COVID-19.
Mechanical ventilators work by pushing air into the lungs of critically ill patients who can no longer breathe well on their own. These patients must be sedated and have a tube stuck into their throat.
Recognizing that complications from ventilator use can occur, some intensive care units (ICUs) have started to delay putting a COVID-19 patient on a ventilator until the last possible moment, when it is truly a life-or-death decision, said Dr. Udit Chaddha, an interventional pulmonologist with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
"There had been a tendency earlier on in the crisis for people to put patients on ventilators early, because patients were deteriorating very quickly," Chaddha said. "That is something that most of us have stepped away from doing.
"We let these patients tolerate a little more hypoxia [oxygen deficiency]. We give them more oxygen. We don't intubate them until they are truly in respiratory distress," Chaddha said. "If you do this correctly, if you put somebody on the ventilator when they need to be put on the ventilator and not prematurely, then the ventilator is the only option."
Ventilators are typically used only when patients are extremely ill, so experts believe that between 40% and 50% of patients die after going on ventilation, regardless of the underlying illness.
Ventilators do have side effects. Because a machine is breathing for them, patients often experience a weakening of their diaphragm and all the other muscles involved with drawing breath, Chaddha said.
"When all these muscles become weaker, it becomes more difficult for you to breathe on your own when you're ready to be liberated from the ventilator," Chaddha said.
These patients also are at risk of ventilator-associated acute lung injury, a condition caused by overinflating the lungs during mechanical ventilation, Khouli said.
Doctors have to precisely calculate the amount of air to push into a person's lungs with every mechanical breath, taking into account the fact that a large part of the lung could be full of fluid and incapable of inflation. "The amount of volume you need to deliver would be usually less," he said.
"If the settings are not managed correctly, it can cause an additional trauma to the lungs," Khouli said.
Ventilated patients also are at increased risk of infection, and many are at risk of psychological complications, Chaddha said. A quarter develop post-traumatic stress disorder, and as many as half might suffer subsequent depression.
"It is not a benign thing," Chaddha said. "There are a lot of side effects. And the longer they are on a ventilator, the more likely these complications are to happen."
Besides the statistics on ventilated patients, the New York study also pointed to several factors that contribute to more severe illness in COVID-19 patients.
Gender seemed to matter: Most of the patients were male, and the median age was 63. The death rate was higher for males than females.
The researchers also found that high blood pressure (57%), obesity (41%) and diabetes (34%) were the most common types of co-existing health problems in COVID-19 patients.
Patients with diabetes were more likely to receive invasive mechanical ventilation, receive treatment in the ICU, or develop acute kidney disease, the findings showed.
Of the patients whose outcomes were known, 14% were treated in the ICU, 12% required invasive mechanical ventilation, and 3% received kidney replacement therapy.
When initially assessed, about one-third of patients had a fever, nearly a thousand had a high respiratory rate and almost 1,600 received supplemental oxygen. On average, patients were discharged after four days.
The study, published online April 22 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted by the Northwell Health COVID-19 Research Consortium, with support from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.
"New York has become the epicenter of this epidemic. Clinicians, scientists, statisticians and laboratory professionals are working tirelessly to provide best care and comfort to the thousands of COVID-19 patients in our Northwell hospitals," said Karina Davidson, professor and senior vice president at the Feinstein Institutes.
"Through our consortium, we will share our clinical and scientific insights as we evolve the ways to care for and treat COVID-19 patients," Davidson noted.
Tracey added that "these observational studies and other randomized clinical trial results from the Feinstein Institutes will improve the care for others confronting COVID outbreaks."
7 DISEASES WE'D FORGOTTEN ABOUT
Leprosy, polio and TB are among diseases that plague millions worldwide.
By Joseph Brownstein, ABC News Medical Unit
August 13, 2009
The bubonic plague, leprosy and polio are thought of as diseases of the past — things that might have had a part in history, but aren't around to infect us any longer.
But a recent incident in China, where a town was quarantined for 10 days after three people died of a variant of bubonic plague, was just one of many reminders that these diseases have not vanished from the face of the earth.
While many think of these diseases as completely eradicated — and they occur far less frequently than they used to in the United States — they have managed to hang on.
"The microbes have hopes, dreams and aspirations just like human beings. In their case, it's to infect other people," said Dr. Howard Markel, a pediatrician and medical historian at the University of Michigan.
Smallpox was the first disease for which a vaccine was developed. While the British doctor Edward Jenner gave the first injection in 1796, the World Health Organization did not declare the disease eradicated until 1980.
But replicating the success of the smallpox effort with any other disease has yet to happen.
"There are a number of diseases about which we hear very little in this country but prospects for actually eliminating/eradicating any of them are slim," said Dr. D. A. Henderson, author of "Smallpox: the Death of a Disease," who led the WHO's initiative to eradicate the virus.
Other diseases, he said, present challenges not faced with smallpox.
"Why not the others?" Henderson said. "Some, because there is an animal reservoir, like plague, or long-term carriers of the disease who can excrete the organism — tuberculosis and leprosy — or diseases for which the vaccine is inadequate to accomplish what we would like to achieve—diphtheria and, to some degree, polio. It is not a simple subject to address."
For some of these diseases, treatment is difficult to administer because of the economic conditions of people suffering from the disease.
Emerging infections — such as bird flu and SARS — command headlines, but many other diseases still plague humans around the world, if not generally the United States.
"There's a group of infections that have been with us forever," said Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and chair of the department of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine at George Washington University, who calls them neglected infections — because they are often ignored, or biblical diseases, because ancient accounts describe their presence.
"Most of these neglected infections or biblical diseases occur more in rural settings than in urban settings," he said. "You will always find these diseases wherever you find extreme poverty, and that is the most common determinant."
In the following pages, we present seven infections from the past that still plague us today.
Pneumonic/Bubonic Plague (Bacterial Infection)
The pneumonic and bubonic plagues are caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, the difference being that pneumonic plague can spread from person to person — without infected fleas.
While the pneumonic form struck China earlier this month, bubonic plague still persists in the United States, in the Southwest. Wild rats and fleas carry the disease, and when in proximity to humans, fleas will spread it to them rather than simply among rats.
"The U.S. reports around a dozen cases a year," Hotez said.
Some cases have received publicity, but the disease tends not to be well known here. Part of the reason is that the disease is very treatable with the administration of antibiotics.
But, while the disease is controlled, it is unlikely to be eliminated completely.
"Getting rid of Yersinia pestis completely from nature, that's unlikely," Markel said. "It's still in the flea population and it's still in the rat populations, and I don't know how you're going to kill all of the fleas and all of the rats."
Tuberculosis (Bacterial Infection)
As a few prominent cases in recent years have shown, tuberculosis is still around, even if it isn't as deadly as it once was. But TB still poses a major problem for doctors, even if most cases do not occur in the United States.
"It's very difficult to eradicate and it's been with human beings … since before written history," said Dr. Douglas Hornick, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa who is consulted by the Iowa Department of Public Health for tuberculosis-related matters.
"It's an insidious, slow-onset disease that patients develop a cough over time," he said. Ultimately, patients can develop a persistent fever and lose energy and weight.
While patients may not know they have the disease, they can be spreading it to other people during that time.
"Most tuberculosis is still susceptible to the standard drugs that we have available," Hornick said.
But tuberculosis has become more of a threat than it once was with the development of forms that are resistant to the drugs typically used to treat the disease.
While tuberculosis was once fatal to 40 to 50 percent of people who caught it, that number remains the same for people with resistant forms.
"We can cure tuberculosis, but it is extremely difficult to treat in drug-resistant forms," Markel said. "It's a terrible disease, and particularly with drug-resistant or multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, a real fear. You're instantly jerked back into the 19th century, where we didn't have these wonderful antibiotics to treat these terrible diseases."
Compounding the problem is surveillance. People in the United States often receive a skin test to see if they have ever had the disease, but that is not done around the world, where such screening may prove impractical or unaffordable — and where a great number of cases exist.
Some estimates place up to a third of the world's population as having tuberculosis.
"Eighty to 90 percent of those people don't know they're infected, because it's latent," Hornick said, referring to the phase when TB does not show symptoms. "The majority of people that are infected never have active disease; they just carry it in their system."
And tuberculosis still presents a challenge in some areas of the United States. "Even in the U.S., there are so many cases in local areas, like the major cities," Franco-Paredes said.
He said rates where he works, in Fulton County, Ga., are "as high as some of the rates of a country in Africa, like Uganda or Kenya."
"I'm not very optimistic," he said. "I think TB will remain with us forever."
Leprosy (Bacterial Infection)
Leprosy is among the oldest human diseases, with descriptions of a similar illness in the Bible, afflicting people who spoke ill of others.
"Many of these biblical diseases have a stigma attached to them, because they can be very disfiguring," Hotez said.
He said mock funerals were often held for people with leprosy. "They thought it was a punishment for God," Hotez said.
Franco-Paredes treats roughly 300 cases each year, some of whom have not left the United States.
"It continues to be a problem, but it's also a disease of vulnerable populations from a socioeconomic perspective," he said. "Even nowadays, we don't know how leprosy is transmitted."
The disease attacks the skin and ultimately the body's nerve cells. It is caused by a bacterium similar to the one responsible for tuberculosis.
Franco-Paredes notes that recent efforts have simply prevented the disease from occurring more often, without preventing it from happening.
"The incidence of the disease has remained the same," he said.
The most common cause within the United States is exposure to armadillos, largely in eating them, he said, as well as having a farm of them or hunting them.
"The bacteria has been identified in armadillos, and the few cases we see that have never travelled, they have that risk factor of being in contact with armadillos," Franco-Paredes said.
He also noted that there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission, because people in the same household who have it tend to also share other risk factors.
"To acquire leprosy, compared with tuberculosis, you need a very long exposure," he said.
The problem in treating it that people tend to go for treatment when they reach later stages of the disease.
"We have good treatments and they're widely available, but the problem again is the late identification of these cases," Franco-Paredes said. "Until we understand better the epidemiology of leprosy and the transmission, I think leprosy will continue to be around.
"I'm sure we will continue to see cases over the next few centuries. With leprosy at this point, I don't think we can talk about elimination."
Spanish and Swine Flu — H1N1 (Viral Infection)
The outbreak of so-called Spanish flu in the winter of 1918-19 caused tens of millions of deaths. While the current strain, known as swine flu or influenza A, has claimed 1,462 lives to date, according to the most recent numbers from the WHO.
But flu season has yet to arrive, and the possibility of more deaths from the pandemic has many worried. And despite the different names given to the influenza strains, both have the same basic structure, H1N1. The virus has mutated — and survived — despite efforts to eliminate it.
"We don't know exactly where these viruses hide in the time that they aren't active in the population," said Dr. Patricia Winokur, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa who is working on developing a vaccine for swine flu. "Somewhere they lay dormant and then get into the human population at different times."
While 1918 marked, perhaps, the most deadly worldwide pandemic of influenza attributed to H1N1, Markel noted that accounts of influenza date as far back as the Renaissance, although it's difficult to determine which strains were responsible.
"We just have these old accounts, but it's not the same kind of data that we'd use today," he said.
But influenza has managed to adapt over time, changing each year to beat the human immune system.
"Each year, they're just a little bit different," Winokur said. "Those proteins have shifted just a little bit over time, and our immune system isn't perfect about capturing those new genetic variants."
She noted that scientists have developed a vaccine to help prevent flu and antivirals to lessen the impact of an infection, but, "They're not flat-out cures."
"This strain will likely stay in our population for quite some time, and eventually it will be replaced by new strains," Winokur said. "A lot of it has to do with this type of virus being able to mutate quite quickly. Each year it mutates and creates a slight variation on itself, and that allows it to survive and continue to infect humans."
Compounding the problems with wiping out influenza is the fact that it can live in animals, such as birds and pigs.
"It's been traditionally very hard to eradicate diseases that have broad animal reservoirs," Winokur said. "We can't vaccinate all birds and all swine the way we could, for example, [vaccinate people against] smallpox."
Polio (Viral Infection)
Like smallpox, polio has a vaccine and, therefore, many have high hopes that it can be eradicated. It is virtually gone from the United States but is still a problem abroad.
"There is an elimination strategy being led by the World Health Organization," Hotez said. "There was great optimism it could be eradicated just like smallpox."
But polio has some distinctions from smallpox that make such an outcome less likely.
Polio can cause paralysis, in the legs and even the lungs.
"You could stop breathing," Hotez said. "That's why during polio epidemics in the United States, they used to put people in iron lungs."
But, he noted, "It's only one out of 100 that are infected with polio that actually develop paralysis. Many people would have no symptoms at all."
To eradicate smallpox, doctors used what is known as "ring vaccination," giving the vaccine to anyone who lived around a victim of the disease.
But because polio has only subtle signs, it is much more difficult to determine who has the virus. Complicating matters, Hotez said, is that symptoms of polio can often mimic those of other viruses.
"You have to be much more aggressive in how you do surveillance for the virus," he said.
So the ambiguity and the subtlety of polio make it a trickier target than smallpox.
A similar effect can take place with pertussis, or whooping cough, simply because the immunity from the vaccine given can wear off over time and the disease does not affect adults as harshly as it does children.
"Many people who were immunized as children may no longer be immune as adults," Markel said.
If they become infected, they can pass that infection to children, who tend to have more serious cases of whooping cough than adults.
Chagas Disease (Parasitic Infection)
Until a few years ago, Chagas disease was not really found in the United States. But conditions in post-Katrina Louisiana and immigration from areas where the disease is endemic have brought more cases to the United States.
The disease is spread by the bug known as the kissing bug and the assassin bug. It bites its human victim, defecating and causing an itch, which becomes Chagas disease when the victim scratches the area, allowing the infection to enter the body.
"Chagas disease is a parasitic infection. It's a disease of poverty," said Dr. Carlos Franco-Paredes, who treats infectious diseases at Atlanta clinics through Emory University. The bug typically lives in poor quality housing, feasting on host victims at night.
Hotez notes that 8 million to 9 million people in Latin America are infected, and he estimates that 400,000 people in the United States have the disease. Patients who get a blood transfusion may be infected, although a test was created in 2006, and Franco-Paredes noted that it is possible to get the infection by drinking some juices in South America, since the sugar cane used is the nesting place of the kissing bug.
The infection attacks the heart, but over the course of many years. Five percent of people will develop symptoms early on, such as liver or spleen enlargement.
But the other 95 percent will show no signs for 20 or 30 years.
"You have heart failure, or you have dilation of the esophagus or the colon," Franco-Paredes said.
People will lose the ability to eat.
"There's really no treatment of Chagas after you have developed all those complications," he said.
Hotez notes one treatment is possible. "Once it gets beyond a certain point, the only treatment is heart transplantation," he said, but once the disease reaches that stage it becomes chronic and incurable.
"You have to catch it early," Hotez said.
Franco-Paredes notes that a patient needs heart treatment or a pacemaker, but patients who would get Chagas disease, for the most part, could never afford the treatments.
Calling the disease "a biological expression for social inequality," he said, "If there's not redistribution of wealth in Latin America, we won't be able to eliminate Chagas disease."
Hookworm (Nutritional and Parasitic Infection)
"In many respects, the rural American South at the beginning of the 20th century resembled a developing country, with high rates of hookworm infection. … Indeed, the pejorative concept of the "lazy Southerner" was partly a consequence of the toxic combination of chronic parasitism and nutritional deficiencies that plagued the region, as the [neglected tropical diseases] kept the southern population mired in poverty just as they do today in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere," Hotez wrote at the beginning of his chapter on tropical diseases in the United States in his book "Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases."
The nutritional deficiencies and parasitic infections that plagued the U.S. South at the beginning of the 20th century have largely been dealt with, but the diseases still plague many living in rural poverty throughout the world.
The hookworm parasite, which lives in the soil, causes severe anemia in its victim and the infection can prove difficult to get rid of. Hotez has developed a vaccine for hookworm, but notes that further work will be needed.
While the infection may once have hurt the economy of the South, Hotez said, it now has the same effect in other parts of the world. Getting a hookworm infection has been correlated with lower income later on.
"A lot of these neglected diseases are poverty promoting — they not only occur in poverty but they promote poverty," he said.
Franco-Paredes notes that interventions have helped reduce cases, including vaccines and having people wear shoes.
It remains unclear how long this disease will persist, since much of its root cause lies in poverty — well off people do not get hookworm infections.
"Any of these diseases … these are diseases that occur mostly in the setting of extreme poverty, and exposure as a result," Hotez said.
Key Difference: Ebola and the Bubonic Plague are two completely different diseases but ones that are capable of creating an epidemic and cause widespread havoc. Ebola is caused by one of the five different types of ebolavirus, whereas the bubonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
The 2014 outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is its biggest outbreak to date and has caused 13,567 reported cases resulting in 4,960 deaths by 29th October, 2014.
Ebola is caused by one of the five different types of ebolavirus.
Ebola kills between 25% and 90% of its victims.
Historically, treatment for Ebola consists of providing the patient with intravenous (IV) fluids, electrolytes, and sufficient oxygen. Many patients with Ebola are treated in isolation or quarantine. Experimental drugs began to be developed during the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa. [Source]
The FDA approved Ervebo, the first vaccine for the prevention of Ebola virus disease, in December 2019, with support from a study conducted in Guinea during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak. [Source]
Ebola causes fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches. This escalates to vomiting, diarrhea and a rash, as well as impaired kidney and liver function. In some cases, patients show both internal and external bleeding, such as oozing from the gums, or blood in the stools. This eventually culminates to death between six to sixteen days of contracting the disease.
Another difference between the bubonic plague and Ebola is the manner in which it is transmitted.
Ebola can be spread through the exchange of bodily fluids, such as blood, semen, breast milk, etc., as well as through contact with the infected persons urine, saliva, sweat, feces, and vomit.
The bubonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is capable of causing three different types of plagues: pneumonic, septicemic, and bubonic.
The bubonic plague can be only spread through the bite of the rat flea.
If the bubonic plague is treated in time, then the risk of death is between 1% and 15%; however if untreated then the risk is between 40% and 60%.
The bubonic plague kills about two thirds of its infected humans within four days if they do no receive prompt treatment as soon as they start showing symptoms, which can appear very suddenly within two to five days of being exposed to the bacteria.
The symptoms of the bubonic plague include chills, general ill feeling, high fever, muscle cramps, seizures, swelling, and changes in skin color. Other symptoms include heavy breathing, continuous vomiting of blood, aching limbs, coughing, and extreme pain, as well as fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, black dots scattered throughout the body, delirium, and coma. However, the characteristic symptom of the bubonic plague is the development of buboes (smooth, painful lymph gland swellings) in the armpits, upper femoral, groin and neck region. The patient may also suffer gangrene of the extremities such as toes, fingers, lips and tip of the nose, causing the skin to slow die and turn black; hence the name the black death.
The largest Bubonic Plague outbreak was the pandemic in the Late Middle Ages known as the Black Death. The Black Death resulted in an estimated 25 million deaths, or 30–60% of the European population.
Comparison between Ebola and Bubonic Plague:
|
|
Ebola (Viral Infection) |
Bubonic Plague (Bacterial) |
|
Known as |
Ebola virus disease (EVD), Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) |
Black Death, Black Plague, La Peste, Pestilential Fever |
|
Caused by |
A virus of the family Filoviridae, genus Ebolavirus:
|
A bacteria called as Yersinia pestis (formerly known as Pasteurella pestis), that belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae. |
|
First Discovered |
In 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
The first recorded epidemic was the Plague of Justinian that ravaged the Byzantine Empire during the sixth century. |
|
Natural Hosts |
Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family |
Rats, but is spread by fleas from one host to another |
|
Transmission |
|
|
|
Incubation period (the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms) |
2 to 21 days |
Less than 2 days |
|
Symptoms |
Fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. Followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. |
|
|
Diagnosis |
Confirmation is made using the following investigations:
|
Confirmation is through the identification of Y. pestis culture from examining the serum taken from the patient during the early and late stages of infection. |
|
Treatment |
Rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids - and treatment of specific symptoms, improves rate of survival. |
Antibiotics such as such as streptomycin and gentamicin, tetracyclines (especially doxycycline), and the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin. Other treatments include oxygen, intravenous fluids, and respiratory support. |
Image Courtesy: outsidethebeltway.com, turbosquid.com
PLAGUE AND LEPROCY (Bacterial Infections)
By Ann Hohenhaus, DVM, WebMD Archives
July 6, 2011
Last week there were two very interesting stories in the news about the intersection between people and animals. Both reported on diseases we rarely hear about anymore: plague and leprosy.
Leprosy is the older disease and has been reported since Biblical times. The first reported epidemic of plague occurred somewhat later, in the 6th or 7th century. Bubonic plague, or the Black Death, was the scourge of the Middle Ages.
Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yesinia pestis.
The usual source of Y. pestis is the rat flea, but hunting pets can contract the plague from eating infected rodents or rabbits.
Even though Y. pestis is predominantly found in California, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada, cases can be seen throughout the country if a human or pet travels to one of these areas and contracts the disease before they return home. An infected pet can, in turn, infect humans. The possibility of plague transmission is one reason prairie dogs may not make the best pets.
The name bubonic comes from the word bubo, which is a fancy word for enlarged lymph node.
Both humans and pets with bubonic plague have enlarged lymph nodes, which are painful. Fever, malaise and non–specific flu-like symptoms are typical for plague in both humans and pets. Although last week’s plague case occurred in a dog, in general, cats are more susceptible to plague than dogs.
Leprosy was in the news too; not because of a sick dog or cat, but because of armadillos. Those prehistoric-looking armored mammals carry the leprosy bacteria, Mycobacterium leprae.
Most leprosy cases occur outside the United States, but cases occur in people who have not traveled outside the USA. This finding puzzled researchers until the DNA of the M. leprae was studied. Both armadillos and humans infected with M. leprae in the USA share the same unique strain of the bacteria. This bacterium is different from the strain of M. leprae found outside the USA. The New England Journal of Medicine article concluded humans can contract leprosy from infected armadillos.
To help protect yourself and your pet from contracting diseases of wildlife:
- Keep your pet leashed or indoors to prevent contact with wild animals which can cause serious diseases.
- Never approach, pet or handle wildlife even if they are acting friendly.
- If your pet is sick, always tell your veterinarian where your pet has traveled and do the same when you visit your physician. It may be just the perfect clue to the diagnosis.
Yes, the Bubonic Plague (Bacterial Infection) Is Still Around, Why You Don’t Need to Worry
By Healthline
An outbreak of the bubonic plague in China has led to worry that the “Black Death” could make a significant return.
But experts say the disease isn’t nearly as deadly as it was, thanks to antibiotics.
The disease pops up every year in multiple countries including the U.S. We have clear treatments for the bubonic plague. Additionally, the disease is rare with a few cases every year found in the United States. This means there’s pretty much no chance we’d ever see a pandemic play out like the one in the 14th century.
“Unlike in the 14th century, we now have an understanding of how this disease is transmitted,” Dr. Shanthi Kappagoda, an infectious disease physician at Stanford Health Care, told Healthline in an interview last year.
“We know how to prevent it — avoid handling sick or dead animals in areas where there is transmission,” she said. “We are also able to treat patients who are infected with effective antibiotics, and can give antibiotics to people who may have been exposed to the bacteria [and] prevent them [from] getting sick.”
Here’s how the plague spreads
The bubonic plague is a serious infection of the lymphatic system, which is caused by bacteria called Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis).
Y. pestis spreads via infected fleas or animals, like rodents, squirrels, or hares, which can be passed to humans who are bitten or scratched.
The plague can cause a range of symptoms such as:
- fever
- vomiting
- bleeding
- organ failure
- open sores
If the disease isn’t treated immediately, the bacteria can spread in the bloodstream and cause sepsis, or septicemic plague, Kappagoda explained.
If the bacteria infects the lungs, it can cause pneumonia or pneumonic plague.
Without treatment, the bubonic plague can cause death in up to 60 percent of people who get it, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
But as long as you don’t touch an animal that has the plague bacteria, your chances of getting it are incredibly low.
The plague is extremely rare. Only a couple thousand cases Source are reported worldwide each year, most of which are in Africa, India, and Peru.
The United States only sees about 7 cases a year, and they’re typically reported in Southwestern states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, where wild rodents carry the bacteria.
“There is transmission of plague among wild rodents only in certain areas of the U.S., and these areas are generally very sparsely populated so there is not much opportunity for humans to come into contact with fleas or animals carrying the plague,” Kappagoda said.
Another reason the plague is so rare is that the bacteria doesn’t survive well in sunlight.
“Y. pestis is easily killed by sunlight. If the bacteria is released into air it can survive for up to1 hour depending on the environmental conditions,” Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, said.
Additionally, bubonic and septicemic plagues can’t be passed from person to person, Glatter added.
And although human-to-human transmission can happen with pneumonic plague when someone spreads cough droplets into the air, it’s very rare.
“Person-to-person transmission is less likely since it requires close and direct contact with a person with pneumonic plague,” Glatter said.
It can be cured
Unlike Europe’s disastrous bubonic plague epidemic, the plague is now curable in most cases.
It can successfully be treated with antibiotics, and according to the CDC, treatment has lowered mortality rates to approximately 11 percent.
The antibiotics work best if given within 24 hours of the first symptoms. In severe cases, patients can be given oxygen, intravenous fluids, and breathing support.
“It is critically important to be treated early as a delay in receiving antibiotics increases the risk of dying,” Kappagoda said.
Preventive antibiotics are also given to people who don’t yet have the plague, but have come into contact with an animal or person who does.
So rest assured, the plague isn’t coming back — at least anytime soon.
And even if it does, we now have the knowledge and resources to control it.
The bottom line
New cases of the bubonic plague found in China are making headlines. But health experts say there’s no chance a plague epidemic will strike again, as the plague is easily prevented and cured with antibiotics.
Leprosy Symptoms, Treatments, History, and Causes (Bacterial Infection)
What Is Leprosy?
Leprosy is an infectious disease that causes severe, disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms, legs, and skin areas around your body.
Leprosy has been around since ancient times. Outbreaks have affected people on every continent.
But leprosy, also known as Hanson’s disease, isn’t that contagious. You can catch it only if you come into close and repeated contact with nose and mouth droplets from someone with untreated leprosy. Children are more likely to get leprosy than adults.
Today, about 208,000 people worldwide are infected with leprosy, according to the World Health Organization, most of them in Africa and Asia. About 100 people are diagnosed with leprosy in the U.S. every year, mostly in the South, California, Hawaii, and some U.S. territories.
Leprosy Symptoms
Leprosy primarily affects your skin and nerves outside your brain and spinal cord, called the peripheral nerves. It may also strike your eyes and the thin tissue lining the inside of your nose.
The main symptom of leprosy is disfiguring skin sores, lumps, or bumps that don’t go away after several weeks or months. The skin sores are pale-colored.
Nerve damage can lead to:
Loss of feeling in the arms and legs
Muscle weakness
It usually takes about three to five for symptoms to appear after coming into contact with the bacteria that causes leprosy. Some people do not develop symptoms until 20 years later. The time between contact with the bacteria and the appearance of symptoms is called the incubation period. Leprosy's long incubation period makes it very difficult for doctors to determine when and where a person with leprosy got infected.
What Causes Leprosy?
Leprosy is caused by a slow-growing type of bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae). Leprosy is also known as Hansen's disease, after the scientist who discovered M. leprae in 1873.
It isn’t clear exactly how leprosy is transmitted. When a person with leprosy coughs or sneezes, they may spread droplets containing the M. leprae bacteria that another person breathes in. Close physical contact with an infected person is necessary to transmit leprosy. It isn’t spread by casual contact with an infected person, like shaking hands, hugging, or sitting next to them on a bus or at a table during a meal.
Pregnant mothers with leprosy can’t pass it to their unborn babies. It’s not transmitted by sexual contact either.
Forms of Leprosy
Leprosy is defined by the number and type of skin sores you have. Specific symptoms and treatment depend on the type of leprosy. The types are:
Tuberculoid. A mild, less severe form of leprosy. People with this type have only one or a few patches of flat, pale-colored skin (paucibacillary leprosy). The affected area of skin may feel numb because of nerve damage underneath. Tuberculoid leprosy is less contagious than other forms.
Lepromatous. A more severe form of the disease. It brings widespread skin bumps and rashes (multibacillary leprosy), numbness, and muscle weakness. The nose, kidneys, and male reproductive organs may also be affected. It is more contagious than tuberculoid leprosy.
Borderline. People with this type of leprosy have symptoms of both the tuberculoid and lepromatous forms.
You may also hear doctors use this simpler classification:
Single lesion paucibacillary (SLPB): One lesion
Paucibacillary (PB): Two to five lesions
Multibacillary (MB): Six or more lesions
Leprosy Diagnosis
If you have a skin sore that might be leprosy, the doctor will remove a small sample of it and send it to a lab to be examined. This is called a skin biopsy. Your doctor may also do a skin smear test. If you have paucibacillary leprosy, there won’t be any bacteria in the test results. If you have multibacillary leprosy, there will be.
You may need a lepromin skin test to see which type of leprosy you have. For this test, the doctor will inject a small amount of inactive leprosy-causing bacteria just underneath the skin of your forearm. They’ll check the spot where you got the shot 3 days later, and then again 28 days later, to see if you have a reaction. If you do have a reaction, you may have tuberculoid or borderline tuberculoid leprosy. People who don’t have leprosy or who have lepromatous leprosy won’t have a reaction to this test.
Leprosy Treatment
Leprosy can be cured. In the last 2 decades, 16 million people with leprosy have been cured. The World Health Organization provides free treatment for all people with leprosy.
Treatment depends on the type of leprosy that you have. Antibiotics are used to treat the infection. Doctors recommend long-term treatment, usually for 6 months to a year. If you have severe leprosy, you may need to take antibiotics longer. Antibiotics can’t treat the nerve damage that comes with leprosy.
Multidrug therapy (MDT) is a common treatment for leprosy that combines antibiotics. That means you’ll take two or more medications, often antibiotics:
Paucibacillary leprosy: You’ll take two antibiotics, such as dapsone each day and rifampicin once a month.
Multibacillary leprosy: You’ll take a daily dose of the antibiotic clofazimine in addition to the daily dapsone and monthly rifampicin. You’ll take multidrug therapy for 1-2 years, and then you’ll be cured.
You may also take anti-inflammatory drugs to control nerve pain and damage related to leprosy. This could include steroids, like prednisone.
Doctors sometimes treat leprosy with thalidomide, a potent medication that suppresses your immune system. It helps treat leprosy skin nodules. Thalidomide is also known to cause severe, life-threatening birth defects. Never take it if you’re pregnant or plan to become pregnant.
Leprosy Complications
Without treatment, leprosy can permanently damage your skin, nerves, arms, legs, feet, and eyes.
Complications of leprosy can include:
- Blindness or glaucoma
- Iritis
- Hair loss
- Infertility
- Disfiguration of the face (including permanent swelling, bumps, and lumps)
- Erectile dysfunction and infertility in men
- Kidney failure
- Muscle weakness that leads to claw-like hands or a not being able to flex your feet
- Permanent damage to the inside of your nose, which can lead to nosebleeds and a chronic stuffy nose
- Permanent damage to the nerves outside your brain and spinal cord, including those in the arms, legs, and feet
Nerve damage can lead to a dangerous loss of feeling. If you have leprosy-related nerve damage, you may not feel pain when you get cuts, burns, or other injuries on your hands, legs, or feet.
By The Mayo Clinic
Cancer refers to any one of a large number of diseases characterized by the development of abnormal cells that divide uncontrollably and have the ability to infiltrate and destroy normal body tissue.
Cancer often has the ability to spread throughout your body.
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the world.
But survival rates are improving for many types of cancer, thanks to improvements in cancer screening and cancer treatment.
Symptoms
Signs and symptoms caused by cancer will vary depending on what part of the body is affected.
Some general signs and symptoms associated with, but not specific to, cancer, include:
- Fatigue
- Lump or area of thickening that can be felt under the skin
- Weight changes, including unintended loss or gain
- Skin changes, such as yellowing, darkening or redness of the skin, sores that won't heal, or changes to existing moles
- Changes in bowel or bladder habits
- Persistent cough or trouble breathing
- Difficulty swallowing
- Hoarseness
- Persistent indigestion or discomfort after eating
- Persistent, unexplained muscle or joint pain
- Persistent, unexplained fevers or night sweats
- Unexplained bleeding or bruising
If you don't have any signs or symptoms, but are worried about your risk of cancer, discuss your concerns with your doctor. Ask about which cancer screening tests and procedures are appropriate for you.
Causes
Cancer is caused by changes (mutations) to the DNA within cells.
The DNA inside a cell is packaged into a large number of individual genes, each of which contains a set of instructions telling the cell what functions to perform, as well as how to grow and divide.
Errors in the instructions can cause the cell to stop its normal function and may allow a cell to become cancerous.
What do gene mutations do?
A gene mutation can instruct a healthy cell to:
Allow rapid growth. A gene mutation can tell a cell to grow and divide more rapidly. This creates many new cells that all have that same mutation.
Fail to stop uncontrolled cell growth. Normal cells know when to stop growing so that you have just the right number of each type of cell. Cancer cells lose the controls (tumor suppressor genes) that tell them when to stop growing. A mutation in a tumor suppressor gene allows cancer cells to continue growing and accumulating.
Make mistakes when repairing DNA errors. DNA repair genes look for errors in a cell's DNA and make corrections. A mutation in a DNA repair gene may mean that other errors aren't corrected, leading cells to become cancerous.
These mutations are the most common ones found in cancer. But many other gene mutations can contribute to causing cancer.
What causes gene mutations?
Gene mutations can occur for several reasons, for instance:
Gene mutations you're born with. You may be born with a genetic mutation that you inherited from your parents. This type of mutation accounts for a small percentage of cancers.
Gene mutations that occur after birth. Most gene mutations occur after you're born and aren't inherited. A number of forces can cause gene mutations, such as smoking, radiation, viruses, cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens), obesity, hormones, chronic inflammation, and a lack of exercise.
Gene mutations occur frequently during normal cell growth. However, cells contain a mechanism that recognizes when a mistake occurs and repairs the mistake. Occasionally, a mistake is missed. This could cause a cell to become cancerous.
How do gene mutations interact with each other?
The gene mutations you're born with and those that you acquire throughout your life work together to cause cancer.
For instance, if you've inherited a genetic mutation that predisposes you to cancer, that doesn't mean you're certain to get cancer. Instead, you may need one or more other gene mutations to cause cancer. Your inherited gene mutation could make you more likely than other people to develop cancer when exposed to a certain cancer-causing substance.
It's not clear just how many mutations must accumulate for cancer to form. It's likely that this varies among cancer types.
Risk factors
While doctors have an idea of what may increase your risk of cancer, the majority of cancers occur in people who don't have any known risk factors. Factors known to increase your risk of cancer include:
Your age
Cancer can take decades to develop. That's why most people diagnosed with cancer are 65 or older. While it's more common in older adults, cancer isn't exclusively an adult disease — cancer can be diagnosed at any age.
Your habits
Certain lifestyle choices are known to increase your risk of cancer. Smoking, drinking more than one alcoholic drink a day (for women of all ages and men older than age 65) or two drinks a day (for men age 65 and younger), excessive exposure to the sun or frequent blistering sunburns, being obese, and having unsafe sex can contribute to cancer.
You can change these habits to lower your risk of cancer — though some habits are easier to change than others.
Your family history
Only a small portion of cancers are due to an inherited condition. If cancer is common in your family, it's possible that mutations are being passed from one generation to the next. You might be a candidate for genetic testing to see whether you have inherited mutations that might increase your risk of certain cancers. Keep in mind that having an inherited genetic mutation doesn't necessarily mean you'll get cancer.
Your health conditions
Some chronic health conditions, such as ulcerative colitis, can markedly increase your risk of developing certain cancers. Talk to your doctor about your risk.
Your environment
The environment around you may contain harmful chemicals that can increase your risk of cancer. Even if you don't smoke, you might inhale secondhand smoke if you go where people are smoking or if you live with someone who smokes. Chemicals in your home or workplace, such as asbestos and benzene, also are associated with an increased risk of cancer.
Complications
Cancer and its treatment can cause several complications, including:
Pain. Pain can be caused by cancer or by cancer treatment, though not all cancer is painful. Medications and other approaches can effectively treat cancer-related pain.
Fatigue. Fatigue in people with cancer has many causes, but it can often be managed. Fatigue associated with chemotherapy or radiation therapy treatments is common, but it's usually temporary.
Difficulty breathing. Cancer or cancer treatment may cause a feeling of being short of breath. Treatments may bring relief.
Nausea. Certain cancers and cancer treatments can cause nausea. Your doctor can sometimes predict if your treatment is likely to cause nausea. Medications and other treatments may help you prevent or decrease nausea.
Diarrhea or constipation. Cancer and cancer treatment can affect your bowels and cause diarrhea or constipation.
Weight loss. Cancer and cancer treatment may cause weight loss. Cancer steals food from normal cells and deprives them of nutrients. This is often not affected by how many calories or what kind of food is eaten; it's difficult to treat. In most cases, using artificial nutrition through tubes into the stomach or vein does not help change the weight loss.
Chemical changes in your body. Cancer can upset the normal chemical balance in your body and increase your risk of serious complications. Signs and symptoms of chemical imbalances might include excessive thirst, frequent urination, constipation and confusion.
Brain and nervous system problems. Cancer can press on nearby nerves and cause pain and loss of function of one part of your body. Cancer that involves the brain can cause headaches and stroke-like signs and symptoms, such as weakness on one side of your body.
Unusual immune system reactions to cancer. In some cases the body's immune system may react to the presence of cancer by attacking healthy cells. Called paraneoplastic syndrome, these very rare reactions can lead to a variety of signs and symptoms, such as difficulty walking and seizures.
Cancer that spreads. As cancer advances, it may spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body. Where cancer spreads depends on the type of cancer.
Cancer that returns. Cancer survivors have a risk of cancer recurrence. Some cancers are more likely to recur than others. Ask your doctor about what you can do to reduce your risk of cancer recurrence. Your doctor may devise a follow-up care plan for you after treatment. This plan may include periodic scans and exams in the months and years after your treatment, to look for cancer recurrence.
Prevention
There's no certain way to prevent cancer. But doctors have identified several ways of reducing your cancer risk, such as:
Stop smoking. If you smoke, quit. If you don't smoke, don't start. Smoking is linked to several types of cancer — not just lung cancer. Stopping now will reduce your risk of cancer in the future.
Avoid excessive sun exposure. Harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun can increase your risk of skin cancer. Limit your sun exposure by staying in the shade, wearing protective clothing or applying sunscreen.
Eat a healthy diet. Choose a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Select whole grains and lean proteins.
Exercise most days of the week. Regular exercise is linked to a lower risk of cancer. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week. If you haven't been exercising regularly, start out slowly and work your way up to 30 minutes or longer.
Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese may increase your risk of cancer. Work to achieve and maintain a healthy weight through a combination of a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Drink alcohol in moderation, if you choose to drink. If you choose to drink alcohol, limit yourself to one drink a day if you're a woman of any age or a man older than age 65, or two drinks a day if you're a man 65 years old or younger.
Schedule cancer screening exams. Talk to your doctor about what types of cancer screening exams are best for you based on your risk factors.
Ask your doctor about immunizations. Certain viruses increase your risk of cancer. Immunizations may help prevent those viruses, including hepatitis B, which increases the risk of liver cancer, and human papillomavirus (HPV), which increases the risk of cervical cancer and other cancers. Ask your doctor whether immunization against these viruses is appropriate for you.
