Pneumonic Plague Research Paper
Plague
Still a Pesky Disease
Joe Schmuckadelli
Barry University
Melbourne Campus
Author Note This paper was prepared for BIO_342,ML Spring A, taught by Professor Stephen M. Garramone, M.D.
Introduction
Long considered the scourge of Western civilization this disease has cropped up numerous times in history. In its worst form it is a rapid,deadly and almost complete infection taking out entire towns,villages and even countries. Today, it still exists but fortunately much, much less severe.
Analysis
Let us look at the various major outbreaks of plague over time. The information we present is from the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC). It is the most concise summary of worldwide plague.
The first we will …show more content…
Still, the massive endotoxic shock and coagulation defect occurs and massive organ failure occurs which kills the patient. Access to the blood can come via an infected lymph node (early bubo), lungs (early pneumonic plague), or exchange of bodily fluids form an infected individual.
Pneumonic plague occurs when the individual starts their infection in their lungs. This can happen by from inhaling infected droplets or from septic spread (see preceding paragraph) of
Yersinia. This is a most severe, rapid, and devastating form of infection. Droplet infection produced by aerosols could be used by bio-terrorists to wreck havoc on a population or army. The drawback to this approach is that there is no containing it and the disease could affect an invading army, too. The plague vaccine (described later) is essentially ineffective and it is no longer available.
Pestis minor occurs in endemic areas (areas where there is a constant but low grade infection rate.) The symptoms lymph node swelling, fever, exhaustion, headache occur but resolve within a week or so on their own.
All the above is from The Merck Manual already …show more content…
Pneumonic plague is very aggressive and is virtually one hundred percent fatal. It is also very contagious as the infected individual continually coughs up Yersinia organisms.
The time from initial infection to symptoms is two to eight days. The initial symptoms are flu-like with high fever and a gradual downhill course thereafter. In an initial case, unless a strong suspicion is there, the diagnosis may go unrecognized because the symptoms are non-specific (a lot of illnesses, including “the flu” present with a similar picture). Indicators of possible plague infection would be areas of rodent infestation, ports (where rats from foreign countries could jump off onto local areas), and prior cases of plague. Of course, healthcare providers in areas of endemic infection (where animal cases of plague are known) must be aware. Below is a map: (Endemic Areas) Note that New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and California are “hot spots” for US plague, especially in summers.
-Treatment for plague is very simple and
Still a Pesky Disease
Joe Schmuckadelli
Barry University
Melbourne Campus
Author Note This paper was prepared for BIO_342,ML Spring A, taught by Professor Stephen M. Garramone, M.D.
Introduction
Long considered the scourge of Western civilization this disease has cropped up numerous times in history. In its worst form it is a rapid,deadly and almost complete infection taking out entire towns,villages and even countries. Today, it still exists but fortunately much, much less severe.
Analysis
Let us look at the various major outbreaks of plague over time. The information we present is from the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC). It is the most concise summary of worldwide plague.
The first we will …show more content…
Still, the massive endotoxic shock and coagulation defect occurs and massive organ failure occurs which kills the patient. Access to the blood can come via an infected lymph node (early bubo), lungs (early pneumonic plague), or exchange of bodily fluids form an infected individual.
Pneumonic plague occurs when the individual starts their infection in their lungs. This can happen by from inhaling infected droplets or from septic spread (see preceding paragraph) of
Yersinia. This is a most severe, rapid, and devastating form of infection. Droplet infection produced by aerosols could be used by bio-terrorists to wreck havoc on a population or army. The drawback to this approach is that there is no containing it and the disease could affect an invading army, too. The plague vaccine (described later) is essentially ineffective and it is no longer available.
Pestis minor occurs in endemic areas (areas where there is a constant but low grade infection rate.) The symptoms lymph node swelling, fever, exhaustion, headache occur but resolve within a week or so on their own.
All the above is from The Merck Manual already …show more content…
Pneumonic plague is very aggressive and is virtually one hundred percent fatal. It is also very contagious as the infected individual continually coughs up Yersinia organisms.
The time from initial infection to symptoms is two to eight days. The initial symptoms are flu-like with high fever and a gradual downhill course thereafter. In an initial case, unless a strong suspicion is there, the diagnosis may go unrecognized because the symptoms are non-specific (a lot of illnesses, including “the flu” present with a similar picture). Indicators of possible plague infection would be areas of rodent infestation, ports (where rats from foreign countries could jump off onto local areas), and prior cases of plague. Of course, healthcare providers in areas of endemic infection (where animal cases of plague are known) must be aware. Below is a map: (Endemic Areas) Note that New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and California are “hot spots” for US plague, especially in summers.
-Treatment for plague is very simple and