In: Nursing
Choose and research four (4) infectious diseases. Try to achieve a variety in your own selections as well as diseases unique from what your classmates have already posted. For your research please use only well-known, reputable sources.
In one discussion post that has four sections, create a brief description or summary of each of your four diseases. The word count for each disease should be approximately 100 words. The content of your summaries should include the etiology, mode of transmission, target host, or any other pertinent details about each disease that makes them unique. The summaries may be short, but they should be complete and include any essential or notable facts about the diseases.
At the end of each summary include a question about the disease that would prompt your colleagues to visit your references and find the answer. They will have the opportunity to go into more detail about the topics in their discussion replies.
Infectious diseases are those diseases which are caused by microorganisms like bacteria,virus,fungi,and parasites. They are infectious because they gets transmitted from one person to another directly or indirectly.
Four infectious diseases are :-
1.Pneumonia - pneumonia is highly contagious disease which affects the lungs . Pneumonia can be bacterial,viral and fungal based on the pathogen involved. It is spread by airborne droplets
a).Bacterial pneumonia is caused by streptococcal pneumonia ,it occurs in people who are immunocompromised and have a history of lung disease.
Symptoms of bacterial pneumonia are fever with chills, sputum prouctive cough, chest pain , shortness of breath ,blueness of lips when there is less oxygen in the blood.
b) Viral pneumonia are caused by respiratory viruses they are short term duration and are less infectious until the person has any lung disease , immunocompromised,or if pregnant.
Symptoms of viral pneumonia are fever with chills ,productive cough,headache,weakness, shortness of breath, chest pain .
c) Fungal pneumonia are caused by fungi. It is spread.from environment to humans.They are less severe as compared to bacterial and viral pneumonia .It affects the immunocompromised and persons with lung disease and younger ones.
Symptoms are same as the bacterial and viral pneumonia.
There are other types of pneumonia-:
Hospital acquired pneumonia -which is developed in hospital due to long stay of patients on ventilators called VAP(ventilator associated pneumonia).
Aspirational pneumonia - aspirational pneumonia are caused by aspiration of food ,toxin, gases ,liquid etc due to lack of gag reflex,some neurological conditions like seizures etc,overdrinking, diseases like GERD.
Community acquired pneumonia - when a person acquire the infection from community ,it is known as CAP-community acquired pneumonia.
Question -What is VAP? What type of pneumonia is it?
2.HIV-HIV is human immunodeficiency virus a retrovirus which causes AIDS. It is transmitted by infected blood transfusion,sexual contact, from mother to fetus, needle stick injuries . In this the patient is unsymptomatic until the CD 4 cell(type of T cells) counts gets below 200.
The sign and symptoms are:-
High grade fever, loss of weight ,headache,fatigue,nausea ,vomiting,skin rashes,fungal infections,night sweats, swollen lymph nodes etc . It makes the person immunocompromised and vulnerable to many serious diseases- Kaposi's sarcoma , pneumonia, tuberculosis,meningitis cytomegalovirus etc.
Question- What are CD4 cells and mention the normal range and the HIV symptomatic range?
3.Candidiasis- It is a fungal infection caused by candida albicans .Candidiasis in mouth is called thrush and in the vagina is called yeast infection .It is transmitted by direct contact ,sexual contact ,and by using the belongings of infected persons.
Sign and symptoms are:-
Inflammation, irritation, pain , burning sensation ,and the classical sign is white odourless patches resembling cottage cheese with discharges (watery),and rashes.
Question- What is the classical sign of candidiasis? Do they bleed on peeling of the patches?
4. Malaria - Malaria is caused by a parasite plasmodium ( three species are vivax,falcifarum,malaraie). It is transmitted by mosquitoes to human beings . Anopheles female mosquitoes transmit the parasite to blood by biting the person and then the plasmodium gets multiplied in liver and destroys the red blood cells.
The sign and symptoms are:-
Fever with shivering when the red blood cells gets destroyed ,headache,vomiting yellowish skin due to breakdown of red blood cells ,in severe cases seizures ,coma and death may also occur if treatment is not taken at correct time.
Question- Which is the most common type of plasmodium parasite causing malaria and the most dangerous plasmodium species?.