Question

Write a short paragraph describing measures that have been effective in controlling and reducing deaths from infectious diseases.

This is for a microbiology course

Answer 1

• Infectious diseases are threat to public health and may lead to an epidemic/ pandemic and several deaths.
• Thus, such diseases need to be closely monitored and controlled.

• · Epidemiology is the study of a disease related to public health, regarding the cause of the disease, origin, investigation of the outbreak, modes of prevention and control

  · Public surveillance is used to collect data regarding public health, their continuous updates, maintenance, analysis and interpretation.

  · It is a specialized branch of science which utilizes, mathematics, statistics, computational methods, along with medicine to analyze the condition of public health, factors affecting, risks, modulating and analyzing health programs for the betterment of the community.

  · The process involves an ongoing and continuous monitoring of data, so that an outbreak or epidemics may be predicted.

  · However, outbreaks are sudden and also influenced by unpredicted genetic alteration

  · of pathogens, unknown terrorist attack etc.

  · There is specific outbreak control team (OUT) that play a role in accumulation of data related to public health and conditions.

  · Some of the OUT include:

  1. Consultant in Communicable Disease Control (CCDC)/Consultant in Health Protection (CHP)

  2. Environmental Health Officer (EHO)

  3. Consultant Microbiologist or Virologist

  4. Secretarial/Administrative support

Some controls include:

1. Risk assessment: Screening of active infections, possibility of cure and individuals who are atna risk of contamination and threat.
2. Confidentiality of data: data regarding the infectious individual are required to be kept confidential.
3. Special awareness for immunocompromised pepple: People who are immunocompromised or associated with underlying diseases like cancer, heart disorder, hypersensitivity, require special rules and consideration.
4. Pregnant women screening: All pregnant women screened for in first prenatal visit.
5. Detection and treatment related care: providing treatment and care after detection, monitoring proper isolation from other patients.
6. Vaccination: If a vaccine is available, vaccination should be considered. Herd immunity may also be considered in some cases.
7. Special attention to spread awareness about mode of transmission and prevention: especially among lower socio-economy groups, prisoners, Adolescent/ young children.