The truth about infectious diseases By Dr. Ronald Nahass 07/13/2006
HEALTH MATTERS
Media coverage of infectious diseases like Avian Flu and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is more pervasive today than ever before. Continuous reports about the growing number of disease cases around the world and endless predictions about the looming threat of a pandemic have raised global concerns about public health to near panic levels, causing widespread social and economic disruption.
Do constant updates, travel advisory alerts and nonstop commentary by leading "experts" and public health officials really tell the whole story, though? Are today's emerging infectious diseases more dangerous than diseases of the past?
Consider some of history's most famous outbreaks. The Black Plague that swept through Europe in the Middle Ages, smallpox brought by Colonial settlers to the new world and the influenza pandemic of 1918 that took 40 million lives worldwide were all infectious diseases of global magnitude.
The difference between antiquated diseases like the Black Plague and contemporary ones like SARS is the environments in which they occur. Today, factors like rapid and widespread global travel, improved diagnostic capabilities and instantaneous communication influence not only the extent to which an infectious disease thrives, but also the way in which we perceive its threat.
Modern technology has allowed scientists to identify previously unknown (or unnamed) diseases that have actually been around for years, giving a false impression that more viruses are emerging today than ever before. Lyme disease, the most common insect-borne infection in the United States, for example, was first identified in 1975. However, cases of the disease have been recorded in medical journals since the 1950s. Since 1975, researchers have found its vector in mice archived at the Smithsonian for more than a century.
Improved modes of transportation have also influenced the impact of infectious diseases on human populations. Today, people travel farther, faster and more frequently than ever before, often carrying their diseases with them. Now, more than any other time in history, those who contract a disease on one continent can literally carry it with them to another.
Even with the added impact of globalization and modern technology, however, much of what we hear on the news about the threat of infectious diseases is nothing more than media hype. Take the SARS scare of 2003, for example.
From November 2002 through May 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported approximately 8,500 cases of SARS and 812 related fatalities. A majority of the cases originated in areas of Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong, China and Vietnam. In the United States, where 27 people contracted the disease, no one died. When compared with the 36,000 flu-related deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year, the threat of SARS to anyone living in the United States remains relatively low.
The impact of Avian Flu has also been overstated. Of the few avian influenza viruses to cross the species barrier and infect humans, H5N1 has caused the largest number of severe cases and deaths. Nevertheless, its human death toll remains extremely low -- only 200 cases out of a worldwide population of 6.5 billion. Furthermore, the spread of H5N1 from person to person has been limited thus far, with most cases occurring as a result of direct contact with infected poultry.
For those living in the United States, infection from everyday hazards poses a greater threat than the infectious diseases appearing so frequently on the evening news. In general, we are more likely to get sick from contaminated surfaces than to contract an infection from a disease-causing vector. According to the CDC, more than 44,000 cases of Salmonellosis (caused by salmonella bacteria) are reported each year in the United States, though actual numbers are considered much higher.
Most alarming, however, are the silent epidemics largely excluded from media coverage and public discourse. An estimated 4.1 million Americans are living with Hepatitis C, the most commonly transmitted disease in the United States, yet only 20 percent are aware they are infected. And though hepatitis is curable, little has been done to educate the public about the virus, its symptoms and treatments.
Another infectious disease, tuberculosis, spreads through the air much like the common cold, and is easily contracted through inhalation of a small number of TB germs. With the recent resurgence of the disease, each second, someone new contracts tuberculosis. This results in 1.7 million deaths per year; estimates put world infection rates at 33 percent of the world's population.
Despite the inherent risk of infectious diseases, there are few simple steps that can help protect against most infections:
* Immunization. Many of today's most prevalent diseases can be easily avoided with vaccines, which are a safe and effective defense against infection. * Proper hygiene. Cleanliness goes a long way in preventing the spread of communicable diseases. Wash hands frequently, especially after using the restroom or when preparing foods like raw meat. In addition, be sure to regularly disinfect high traffic areas in the home like the kitchen and bathroom. * Common sense. Avoid behaviors that increase the risk of contracting a disease, like sharing a soda with someone who's sick or having sexual intercourse without a condom. * Awareness. Check the local health department's Web site regularly for any alerts or advisories, keep up to date about the most dangerous diseases in that area, and know the warning signs of those diseases.
For more information about the infectious diseases highlighted in this article, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.org. To find a Princeton HealthCare System Infectious Disease specialist near you, call (888) 742-7496.
Ronald G. Nahass, M.D., FACS, FIDSA, is affiliated with the University Medical Center at Princeton.
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-------------------- We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand... and melting like a snowflake. Let us use it before it is too late. Posts: 221 | From the hills | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
I would have to agree with him that some of the diseases like avian flu have been hyped by the media. Potential for plagues does not match actual plagues, such as we have with hepatitis, TB, tickborne diseases. If Lyme were transferrable thru the air or bymosquitoes, you can bet they would be all over it. For some reason, ticks don't get any respect for their disease potential.
He may downplay lyme, but this article does not say so. He is saying the disease is not new, nothing about seriousness of it in this piece. Guess we should be grateful for small favors.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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quote:Originally posted by lou: If Lyme were transferrable thru the air or by mosquitoes, you can bet they would be all over it.
Who says they don't??
History will prove this "disease" and similiar but yet "undiscovered" pathogens to be a primary root cause of most debilitating conditions, ie diabetes, heart disease, asthma, MS, ALS, Alzheimers, arthritis etc. even many cancers. They are already hinting at prostate cancer being caused by long term, "low-grade" infection. Infection by what??? Remeber the two Australian docs who 20 years ago insisted that ulcers were caused by another spirochete H pylori??? They were the laughing stock of the "scientific" community for years....until they won an international prize last year for BEING RIGHT!!!!
The medical community's problem is that they still don't acknowledge undiscovered pathogens or long term sub acute infections. Too much arrogant reliance on inacurate tests and "we've got a pill for that!".
Just like my pulmonolgist suggested, "if you had that, it would be gone by now or it would have overwhelmed your system."
Riiiiiiight! No defference to the vagueries of the human immune system!!
Just read today that they're finding that a "new" antibody test is showing people with anti-cancer antibody production up to five years before diagnosis of lung cancer by CT scan!!!! Posts: 294 | From nevada | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
One of the major reasons for problems as described in this thread has to do with a lack of pure scientists going into the medical profession.
It seems to me that these minds are choosing other sciences as opposed to the medical feild.
I guess this is a double edged sword though. On the one hand, a physican should always keep an open mind and open eye, otherwise they fail to correctly observe the scientific method. On the other hand, there has to be some kind of standards so that patients can be protected from medical quackery.
However, it seems that many times the medical profession stays the line too far in the other direction and fails as a science by not keeping an open mind.
Examples are easy to find where a group of doctors found a way to explain and or cure a disease in a much more effective manner than the current dogma had allowed.
If upon the presentation of such data, it seems valad, and not "quackery" then changes should be made, because patients shouldn't be subjected to the current dogma which has recently been proved to be quackery.
Unfortutly, the medical profession is slow to change, even in the face of overwhelming data unless a very select few "elites" speak out.
That is pure crap, and its not science, its fuedalism.
Posts: 559 | From Cary, NC | Registered: May 2006
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northstar
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7911
posted
I doubt they are taught to think or work as researchers., to examine, question, nor have they learned the lessen of the importance of the "open mind".
Remember all the MD's everyone has gone to prior to dx? Same thing. They are taught to do it a certain way. They are taught that CDC, and big research facilities/universities are infallible. Who would even think they may be wrong?
Ergo, they do as they are taught (tis easier not to question)
And as good little soldiers do, they follow.
Just like when we listened to MD's who tried to explain away or ignore our symptoms,they too are uncritically listening to those with referrent power.
We learned, but will they?
N.
(p.s. I heard the average IQ of MD's is 115. Now, this is a bellcurve, so there are some smarter, but....!)
Posts: 1331 | From hither and yonder | Registered: Sep 2005
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Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
Wait until he loses a golf ball in the woods.
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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