Question

Microbiomes are composed of resident microbioata and transient microbioata. Resident microbioata feed on the waste of body cells and are mostly commensal. A person's normal microbiome begins to develop when the amniotic membrane ruptures during birth. The first meals and first breathe also contribute to the microbiome. Sometimes normal microbioata become pathogenic, introduction into an unusual site in the body, immunosuppression, stressful conditions or changes in the normal microbioata that compete out opportunistic pathogens.  

1. Explain why eating high fiber foods, taking meds for chronic conditions or taking antibiotics before the age of three affects a person's microbiome.

Reservoirs

Animal reservoirs harbor agents of zooneses, for example anthrax, rabies, Ebola and African sleeping sickness. Usually animals do not acquire diseases from humans or human waste. Some pathogens could be transmitted from human to animal by a bloodsucking arthropod.

Human carriers may have no symptoms and may infect other people who are susceptible. 2. Salmonella Typhi lives only in humans. Carriers may have recovered from an infection and have this bacteria in their intestinal tract. Describe two ways a carrier could infect others.

Nonliving reservoirs are soil, water or food.

Direct contact transmission involves person to person spread by body contact; indirect contact involves the spread of pathogens by an inanimate object, fomites. Droplet transmission refers to the pathogen traveling less than 1 meter in droplets of mucous to a new host. Aerosols are clouds of water than travel more than 1 meter in airborne transmission. Vehicle transmission includes, airborne, waterborne and foodborne transmission. Fecal-oral infection results from drinking sewage contaminated water or eating fecal contaminants.

3. How is polio transmitted? Why might the incidence of polio be high in children in a refugee camp?

4. How is hepatitist B transmitted? For whom is a HepB vaccine recommended?

The incidence of a disease is the number of new cases and the prevalence is the total number of cases in a population for a given time period.  

5. According to CDC the number of HIV cases reported in 2014 was 37,600. At the end of 2015 1.1 million Americans were living with HIV infections. What is the incidence of HIV and what is the prevalence based on this information?

Answer 1

Answer:

1. Explain why eating high fiber foods, taking meds for chronic conditions or taking antibiotics before the age of three affects a person's microbiome.

• Eating high fiber foods, taking medicines for chronic conditions or taking antibiotics before the age of three can affect a person's microbiome. This is because during first three years of a child, the microbiome evolves and develops after which is begins to stabilize. So, microbiome in the initial years of a child is very dynamic and with increasing diversity however, after 3 years it stabilizes and converges towards the microbiota that resembles microbiota of adults.
• Administration of antibiotics and medicines for chronic conditions below 3 years is not recommended as it adversely affects the natural microflora biodiversity. It can also cause an increase in antibiotic-resistance.

2. Describe two ways a carrier could infect others.

• Carries are infected person that carries or harbors an infectious agent and can potentially infect others. Carriers could infect others as follows:
  • Most active carries do not have symptoms of infection, are not sick and do not demonstrate or exhibit any obvious signs of infection.
  • Active carriers can transmit disease since they do not take any specialized treatment for disease. These transmissions could be airborne (transmission of agents suspended in the air) and can infect susceptible people.
  • Some of the diseases can be transmitted by direct contact of susceptible person with infected carriers.

3. How is polio transmitted? Why might the incidence of polio be high in children in a refugee camp?

• Polio virus is transmitted mostly through contact with stool of infected person (fecal-oral transmission).
• Consuming food infected with polio virus
• Contact with surfaces that are contaminated with polio virus.
• In a refugee camp, the hygiene conditions are usually low, there is delay in early detection of polio cases and the treatment is also usually delayed. This can result in an outbreak of polio infection.

4. How is hepatitis B transmitted? For whom is a HepB vaccine recommended?

• Hepatitis B is transmitted through contact with infected persons blood or bodily fluids (semen, vaginal fluids, menstrual blood).
• Blood transfusions using un-tested and Hepatitis B virus infected blood can also cause Hepatitis B.
• Transmission from infected mother to her child during birth.
• Unprotected sexual contact.
• Drug users who use and share contaminated injections.
• HepB vaccine is recommended for:
  • Adults in high risk group for HBV infection (it can cause liver cirrhosis).
  • Infants born to HBV infected woman
  • All infants and children upto age 18 years