Dysentery Research Paper
Dysentery Dysentery is a very dangerous and contagious bacterial infection, known as Shigella bacillus, which affects the lining of the colon and intestinal tract (Margolis 2011). This bacterial disease has been known to wipe out armies since ancient times, but was majorly recognized during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865 (Civil War Society 2002). The severe abdominal pain, fever and the painful bowel movements accompany the Shigella bacillus infection which caused doctors to try find a solution to this epidemical disease (Margolis 2011). It was not until 1898, when Dr. Kiyoshi Shiga isolated a bacillus that was known to cause bloody diarrhea when fed to animals or humans (Trofa et al. 1999). Shiga found out that the organism continually
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formed together when exposed to the serum of the dysentery patients (Trofa et al.
1999). Throughout history, dysentery has been known to affect large populations of people, specifically armies, because of the unsanitary conditions and the ability of this bacteria to thrive in contaminated foods and water (Perlin 2002). In addition, Perlin (2002) stated that the reason dysentery affected many army groups was because the food was touched by infected people, the water was contaminated with human waste, and through the act of poor hygiene. The contaminated water and food is what majorly affected armies and made many people susceptible to this disease (Margolis 2011). The major historical record of dysentery that was recorded by physicians, was during the Civil War, when nearly half of all deaths caused by disease was because of the deadly bloody diarrhea from the dysentery bacteria (Civil War Society 2002). The disease …show more content…
would spread through camps, because of the lack of education on sanitation by both the Confederate and the Union soldiers. These poor conditions caused around one hundred thousand deaths related to dysentery bacteria over the course of the Civil War (Civil War Society 2002). The Union Army reported that every 995 men out of 1000 had at some time over the Civil War had diarrhea, or irregular bowel movement that led to different levels of sickness (Civil War Society 2002). However, before the Civil War, there was other known cases of breakouts of dysentery bacteria, such as during the Revolutionary War (Perlin 2002). Also, Perlin (2002) added that George Washington’s army experienced outbreaks of dysentery, and so did the French army in the 1770’s Army grounds were a primary source to receive contamination from the dysentery bacteria. The disease, dysentery, is when someone’s intestine becomes inflamed because of the consistent and frequent passage of feces that contain blood and mucus (Perlin 2002). Dysentery can be obtained through two different organisms, the bacterium called Shigella, and the other is caused by an amoeba (Karas et al. 2007). The bacterium Shigella causes bloody diarrhea because it eliminates cells in the large intestine that creates mucosal ulcers, the root cause of the blood and diarrhea (Perlin 2002). The smallest amount of Shigella, which would be found in contaminated food and water, can cause the horrid disease of dysentery (Perlin 2002). The other organism, an amoeba, causes dysentery through the secretion of feces from the body (Karas et al. 2007). Amoebic dysentery cysts can form outside of the human body, which can later break open and spread the disease to others (Perlin 2002). Cysts are able to live outside the body for long periods of time, which allows the disease to thrive in these cysts. Failure to properly wash hands after bowel movements can allow the disease to be transmitted from person to person (Margolis 2011). Both of these forms of dysentery are highly contagious, and the bacteria can be transferred very easily from one piece of contaminated food to the other, just like many other germs and bacteria. Crowded areas encourage the spread of this unfortunate disease, because contact between infected people is much more prevalent. In recent years, the world has had better control over the deadly dysentery disease. The improved knowledge of what causes dysentery, poor health conditions, has helped many countries stop the potential outbreak dysentery by creating healthier living environments. The Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 is what many countries have to be aware of, because of this serotype’s epidemic causing potential (Dutta et al. 2009). High death rates is associated with Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1, as shown in South Africa, and many other third world countries who do not have the resource to prevent an epidemic from occurring (Karas et al. 2009). Dysentery Epidemics are common in areas with poverty and poor sanitation (Perlin 2002). One of the biggest outbreaks of dysentery occurred in the year of 1968 in Central America, where around five hundred thousand cases were reported which resulted in around twenty thousand deaths (Perlin 2002). This epidemic affected so many people because of the poor living environment, and the people being uneducated as to how the disease was spread. Such poor hygiene in Central America allows the dysentery disease to thrive. In the early 1960’s, major epidemics of Shigella dysenteriae killed ten thousand people in Central America, Asia, and Somalia (Malengreau et al. 1983). In the years of 1981 and 1982 the country in central Africa, called Zaire, had the Shigella dysenteriae type 1 serotype be exposed to over two hundred thousand people (Malengreau et al. 1983). Roughly thirteen thousand people received this dysentery disease in a small town of Bumba, Zaire, and 1,782 people fell to this deadly diarrhea (Malengreau et al. 1983). The years of 1981 and 1982 had an impact on the world with over two million people being exposed to this dreadful Shigella dysenteriae type 1 disease, and two hundred thousand being affected in Zaire, Africa (Malengreau et al. 1983). The staggering number, of five to ten percent of the affected population perished to this deadly disease (Malengreau et al. 1983). Epidemic dysentery is an enormous problem in refugee countries where over crowded populations and unsanitary conditions catalyze the spread of the dysentery disease (Perlin 2002). The hygiene in these countries enable the disease to flourish and make the population more susceptible for the disease to enter the body. Every year roughly one hundred forty million people are affected by some sort of the dysentery disease, and around six hundred thousand people fall fatal to the dysentery disease (Perlin 2002). In third world, and developing countries children are more of the victims than adults, specifically children of five years of age and less (Perlin 2002). During the Civil War, little was known on how to effectively treat the dysentery disease. Many doctors avoided antiseptic surgery, whether it was from lack of time, or too many patients, so many soldiers who had this disease were in severe pain (Civil War Society 2002). Many treatments for this bowel infectious disease resulted in the use of medicinal teas, such as dogwood bark tea, to try and rid the bacteria (Civil War Society 2002). In addition, doctors, decided to treat diarrhea cases, such as from dysentery with either opium or the combination of chalk and mercury (Civil War Society 2002). The doctors obviously did not know the harmful effects that mercury can have on the human body during this time period. During the Civil War time period, many physicians were still using the bleeding technique to try to rid the dysentery bacteria from the patient (Perlin 2002). The doctors had such little training on actually working with the anatomy of the human body, that they did not have an idea as to how to treat this disease, and what was causing the disease (Lim et al. 2005). Other medical substances that were given to patients during the Civil War included: lead acetate, silver nitrate, turpentine, castor oil, and other questionable substances to put into the body of the human (Civil War Society 2002). A very painful treatment, cauterizing the anal opening, was even preformed on some patients to stop the bleeding and dehydration (Civil War Society 2002). The poor training of the physicians during the Civil War led to very ineffective treatments on the soldiers with the dysentery disease, and this caused many of the patients to ultimately die from dehydration, or other infections from the operations (Lim et al. 2005). The lifespan of a soldier with the condition of diarrheal dysentery ranged from around a few days to a couple weeks, if the soldier would in fact perish from this disease, because of the dehydration and the fever that accompanied this disease (Civil War Society 2002). As time progressed, physicians found the root cause of dysentery was from a bacterial invasion of the body, specifically the intestinal tract (Dutta et al. 2003). Physicians discovered that dehydration was a critical symptom associated with dysentery, and the rehydration of electrolytes such as potassium and sodium can treat the disease by making sure the patient is hydrated and healthy (Margolis 2011). If monitored correctly, and sufficient care, fluids, and food, diarrhea can be a beneficial symptom of dysentery because the diarrhea rids the body of the disease (Margolis 2011). Antibiotics have been created to help rid the dysentery bacteria from the body, but the Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 has showed resistance to chloramphenicol, ampicillin, tetracycline, nor-floxacin, nalidixic acid, and ciprofloxacin, which have been used to treat dysentery before (Dutta et al. 2003). Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 has shown resistance against many forms of antibiotics, but antibiotic treatment plays a large role in diminishing the disease from the body (Karas et al. 2007). Certain antibiotics such as pivmecillinam, azithromycin and ceftriaxone are able to treat Shigella dysenteriae type 1, and attempt to eliminate the bacteria causing the disease (Das et al. 2013). Unsanitary conditions, human waste, and contaminated food have allowed shigellosis, an infection of the intestinal tract caused by Shigella dysenteriae, to affect 80-160 million people annually around the world (Das et al. 2013). Shigellosis mainly affects children in third world countries, and sixty one percent of the deaths caused by shigellosis is attributed to children under the age of five (Das et al. 2013). In recent years, the death rate of the dysentery disease has decreased ninety eight percent, meaning that treatments are becoming more and more effective against this disease (Das et al. 2013). Dysentery has really focused in on children, and the lifespan of a child under the age of five is not long if the disease has caused the child to become hospitalized (Das et al. 2013). The dehydration is such a devastating symptom, which caused many children to die each year from dysentery (Malengreau et al. 1983).
Dysentery has been an epidemical problem for centuries, and even today dysentery is still killing many people in developing countries (Lim et al.
2005). Dysentery is able to spread, and prosper in feces, unsanitary conditions, and contaminated food (Dutta et al. 2003). The human race needs to educate themselves on keeping their living conditions clean to prevent the dysentery bacteria from spreading easily. Dysentery is a contagious disease, which recently has aimed its focus on affecting many children in Africa and Central American countries (Margolis 2011). However, treatment is improving, and antibiotics have been and are being created to rid this diarrheal disease (Lim et al.
2005).
Jason Bellmore
Dr. Stabenau
Bio 150 03 Literature Cited
Civil War Society, 2002. Medical Car, Battle Wounds, and Disease. Civil War Medicine. Retrieved Nov 25, 2013, from http://www.civilwarhome.com/civilwarmedicine.htm.
Das, J. K., A. Ali, R. A. Salam, and Z. A. Bhutta. 2013. Antibiotics for the treatment of chlorea, Shigella, and Cryptospordium in children. BMC Public Health 13:1-9.
Dutta, S., D. Dutta, P. Dutta, S. Matsushita, S. K. Bhattacharya, and S. Yoshida. 2003. Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1, Kolkata, India. Emerging Infectious Disease 9:1471-1474.
Karas, J. A., D. G. Pillay, and A. W. Sturm. 2007. The catalase reaction of Shigella species and its use in rapid screening for epidemic Shigella dysenteriae type 1. Animals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 101:79-84.
Lim, M. L., G. S. Murphy, M. Calloway, and D. Tribble. 2005. History of U.S. military contributions to the study of diarrheal diseases. Military Medicine 170:30-38.
Malengreau, M., M. Molima-Kaba, M. Gillieaux, M. De Feyter, Kyele-Duibone, and Mokolo-ndjolo. 1983. Outbreak of Shigella dysentery in eastern Zaire, 1980-1982. Annales de la Societe de Medicine Tropicale 63:59-67.
Margolis, S. 2011. Diarrhea. rememdieshealthcommunities.com. Retrieved Nov 25, 2013, from http://www.healthcommunities.com/diarrhea/what-is-bacillary-dysentery-shigellosis.shtml.
Perlin, D. 2002. Water-Borne Diseases: Cholera and Dysentery. Infoplease. Retrieved Nov 25, 2013, from http://www.infoplease.com/cig/dangerous-diseases-epidemics/epidemic-dysentery.html.
Trofa, A. F., H. Ueno-Olsen, R. Oiwa, and M. Yoshikawa. 1999. Dr. Kiyoshi Shiga: discoverer of the dysentery bacillus. Clinical Infectious Diseases 29:1303-1306.
formed together when exposed to the serum of the dysentery patients (Trofa et al.
1999). Throughout history, dysentery has been known to affect large populations of people, specifically armies, because of the unsanitary conditions and the ability of this bacteria to thrive in contaminated foods and water (Perlin 2002). In addition, Perlin (2002) stated that the reason dysentery affected many army groups was because the food was touched by infected people, the water was contaminated with human waste, and through the act of poor hygiene. The contaminated water and food is what majorly affected armies and made many people susceptible to this disease (Margolis 2011). The major historical record of dysentery that was recorded by physicians, was during the Civil War, when nearly half of all deaths caused by disease was because of the deadly bloody diarrhea from the dysentery bacteria (Civil War Society 2002). The disease …show more content…
would spread through camps, because of the lack of education on sanitation by both the Confederate and the Union soldiers. These poor conditions caused around one hundred thousand deaths related to dysentery bacteria over the course of the Civil War (Civil War Society 2002). The Union Army reported that every 995 men out of 1000 had at some time over the Civil War had diarrhea, or irregular bowel movement that led to different levels of sickness (Civil War Society 2002). However, before the Civil War, there was other known cases of breakouts of dysentery bacteria, such as during the Revolutionary War (Perlin 2002). Also, Perlin (2002) added that George Washington’s army experienced outbreaks of dysentery, and so did the French army in the 1770’s Army grounds were a primary source to receive contamination from the dysentery bacteria. The disease, dysentery, is when someone’s intestine becomes inflamed because of the consistent and frequent passage of feces that contain blood and mucus (Perlin 2002). Dysentery can be obtained through two different organisms, the bacterium called Shigella, and the other is caused by an amoeba (Karas et al. 2007). The bacterium Shigella causes bloody diarrhea because it eliminates cells in the large intestine that creates mucosal ulcers, the root cause of the blood and diarrhea (Perlin 2002). The smallest amount of Shigella, which would be found in contaminated food and water, can cause the horrid disease of dysentery (Perlin 2002). The other organism, an amoeba, causes dysentery through the secretion of feces from the body (Karas et al. 2007). Amoebic dysentery cysts can form outside of the human body, which can later break open and spread the disease to others (Perlin 2002). Cysts are able to live outside the body for long periods of time, which allows the disease to thrive in these cysts. Failure to properly wash hands after bowel movements can allow the disease to be transmitted from person to person (Margolis 2011). Both of these forms of dysentery are highly contagious, and the bacteria can be transferred very easily from one piece of contaminated food to the other, just like many other germs and bacteria. Crowded areas encourage the spread of this unfortunate disease, because contact between infected people is much more prevalent. In recent years, the world has had better control over the deadly dysentery disease. The improved knowledge of what causes dysentery, poor health conditions, has helped many countries stop the potential outbreak dysentery by creating healthier living environments. The Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 is what many countries have to be aware of, because of this serotype’s epidemic causing potential (Dutta et al. 2009). High death rates is associated with Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1, as shown in South Africa, and many other third world countries who do not have the resource to prevent an epidemic from occurring (Karas et al. 2009). Dysentery Epidemics are common in areas with poverty and poor sanitation (Perlin 2002). One of the biggest outbreaks of dysentery occurred in the year of 1968 in Central America, where around five hundred thousand cases were reported which resulted in around twenty thousand deaths (Perlin 2002). This epidemic affected so many people because of the poor living environment, and the people being uneducated as to how the disease was spread. Such poor hygiene in Central America allows the dysentery disease to thrive. In the early 1960’s, major epidemics of Shigella dysenteriae killed ten thousand people in Central America, Asia, and Somalia (Malengreau et al. 1983). In the years of 1981 and 1982 the country in central Africa, called Zaire, had the Shigella dysenteriae type 1 serotype be exposed to over two hundred thousand people (Malengreau et al. 1983). Roughly thirteen thousand people received this dysentery disease in a small town of Bumba, Zaire, and 1,782 people fell to this deadly diarrhea (Malengreau et al. 1983). The years of 1981 and 1982 had an impact on the world with over two million people being exposed to this dreadful Shigella dysenteriae type 1 disease, and two hundred thousand being affected in Zaire, Africa (Malengreau et al. 1983). The staggering number, of five to ten percent of the affected population perished to this deadly disease (Malengreau et al. 1983). Epidemic dysentery is an enormous problem in refugee countries where over crowded populations and unsanitary conditions catalyze the spread of the dysentery disease (Perlin 2002). The hygiene in these countries enable the disease to flourish and make the population more susceptible for the disease to enter the body. Every year roughly one hundred forty million people are affected by some sort of the dysentery disease, and around six hundred thousand people fall fatal to the dysentery disease (Perlin 2002). In third world, and developing countries children are more of the victims than adults, specifically children of five years of age and less (Perlin 2002). During the Civil War, little was known on how to effectively treat the dysentery disease. Many doctors avoided antiseptic surgery, whether it was from lack of time, or too many patients, so many soldiers who had this disease were in severe pain (Civil War Society 2002). Many treatments for this bowel infectious disease resulted in the use of medicinal teas, such as dogwood bark tea, to try and rid the bacteria (Civil War Society 2002). In addition, doctors, decided to treat diarrhea cases, such as from dysentery with either opium or the combination of chalk and mercury (Civil War Society 2002). The doctors obviously did not know the harmful effects that mercury can have on the human body during this time period. During the Civil War time period, many physicians were still using the bleeding technique to try to rid the dysentery bacteria from the patient (Perlin 2002). The doctors had such little training on actually working with the anatomy of the human body, that they did not have an idea as to how to treat this disease, and what was causing the disease (Lim et al. 2005). Other medical substances that were given to patients during the Civil War included: lead acetate, silver nitrate, turpentine, castor oil, and other questionable substances to put into the body of the human (Civil War Society 2002). A very painful treatment, cauterizing the anal opening, was even preformed on some patients to stop the bleeding and dehydration (Civil War Society 2002). The poor training of the physicians during the Civil War led to very ineffective treatments on the soldiers with the dysentery disease, and this caused many of the patients to ultimately die from dehydration, or other infections from the operations (Lim et al. 2005). The lifespan of a soldier with the condition of diarrheal dysentery ranged from around a few days to a couple weeks, if the soldier would in fact perish from this disease, because of the dehydration and the fever that accompanied this disease (Civil War Society 2002). As time progressed, physicians found the root cause of dysentery was from a bacterial invasion of the body, specifically the intestinal tract (Dutta et al. 2003). Physicians discovered that dehydration was a critical symptom associated with dysentery, and the rehydration of electrolytes such as potassium and sodium can treat the disease by making sure the patient is hydrated and healthy (Margolis 2011). If monitored correctly, and sufficient care, fluids, and food, diarrhea can be a beneficial symptom of dysentery because the diarrhea rids the body of the disease (Margolis 2011). Antibiotics have been created to help rid the dysentery bacteria from the body, but the Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 has showed resistance to chloramphenicol, ampicillin, tetracycline, nor-floxacin, nalidixic acid, and ciprofloxacin, which have been used to treat dysentery before (Dutta et al. 2003). Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 has shown resistance against many forms of antibiotics, but antibiotic treatment plays a large role in diminishing the disease from the body (Karas et al. 2007). Certain antibiotics such as pivmecillinam, azithromycin and ceftriaxone are able to treat Shigella dysenteriae type 1, and attempt to eliminate the bacteria causing the disease (Das et al. 2013). Unsanitary conditions, human waste, and contaminated food have allowed shigellosis, an infection of the intestinal tract caused by Shigella dysenteriae, to affect 80-160 million people annually around the world (Das et al. 2013). Shigellosis mainly affects children in third world countries, and sixty one percent of the deaths caused by shigellosis is attributed to children under the age of five (Das et al. 2013). In recent years, the death rate of the dysentery disease has decreased ninety eight percent, meaning that treatments are becoming more and more effective against this disease (Das et al. 2013). Dysentery has really focused in on children, and the lifespan of a child under the age of five is not long if the disease has caused the child to become hospitalized (Das et al. 2013). The dehydration is such a devastating symptom, which caused many children to die each year from dysentery (Malengreau et al. 1983).
Dysentery has been an epidemical problem for centuries, and even today dysentery is still killing many people in developing countries (Lim et al.
2005). Dysentery is able to spread, and prosper in feces, unsanitary conditions, and contaminated food (Dutta et al. 2003). The human race needs to educate themselves on keeping their living conditions clean to prevent the dysentery bacteria from spreading easily. Dysentery is a contagious disease, which recently has aimed its focus on affecting many children in Africa and Central American countries (Margolis 2011). However, treatment is improving, and antibiotics have been and are being created to rid this diarrheal disease (Lim et al.
2005).
Jason Bellmore
Dr. Stabenau
Bio 150 03 Literature Cited
Civil War Society, 2002. Medical Car, Battle Wounds, and Disease. Civil War Medicine. Retrieved Nov 25, 2013, from http://www.civilwarhome.com/civilwarmedicine.htm.
Das, J. K., A. Ali, R. A. Salam, and Z. A. Bhutta. 2013. Antibiotics for the treatment of chlorea, Shigella, and Cryptospordium in children. BMC Public Health 13:1-9.
Dutta, S., D. Dutta, P. Dutta, S. Matsushita, S. K. Bhattacharya, and S. Yoshida. 2003. Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1, Kolkata, India. Emerging Infectious Disease 9:1471-1474.
Karas, J. A., D. G. Pillay, and A. W. Sturm. 2007. The catalase reaction of Shigella species and its use in rapid screening for epidemic Shigella dysenteriae type 1. Animals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 101:79-84.
Lim, M. L., G. S. Murphy, M. Calloway, and D. Tribble. 2005. History of U.S. military contributions to the study of diarrheal diseases. Military Medicine 170:30-38.
Malengreau, M., M. Molima-Kaba, M. Gillieaux, M. De Feyter, Kyele-Duibone, and Mokolo-ndjolo. 1983. Outbreak of Shigella dysentery in eastern Zaire, 1980-1982. Annales de la Societe de Medicine Tropicale 63:59-67.
Margolis, S. 2011. Diarrhea. rememdieshealthcommunities.com. Retrieved Nov 25, 2013, from http://www.healthcommunities.com/diarrhea/what-is-bacillary-dysentery-shigellosis.shtml.
Perlin, D. 2002. Water-Borne Diseases: Cholera and Dysentery. Infoplease. Retrieved Nov 25, 2013, from http://www.infoplease.com/cig/dangerous-diseases-epidemics/epidemic-dysentery.html.
Trofa, A. F., H. Ueno-Olsen, R. Oiwa, and M. Yoshikawa. 1999. Dr. Kiyoshi Shiga: discoverer of the dysentery bacillus. Clinical Infectious Diseases 29:1303-1306.