Question
Please follow the instruction and the rubric
Discussion Board 3: Epidemiology
Please choose one of the diseases or types of diseases listed below. Address the following points. Include at least one reference which was used as a source of information.
- Malaria – do not use if presented in depth for class
- Cholera & diarrheal diseases (identify specific disease being addressed)
- Polio
- Dengue fever & other mosquito borne diseases (identify specific disease being addressed)
- Ebola
- TB
- MERS
- Neglected Tropical Diseases – http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ntd/(identify specific disease being addressed)
Discussion
Briefly discuss the disease (one – two paragraphs)
- cause and transmission
- Symptoms, severity, and effects – how lethal is the disease, how long does it last, short term effects, long term effects
- Populations affected
Identify the effect disease has on one of the following
- Employment
- Economic conditions in a country
- Health of certain populations (children, pregnant women, elderly, etc)
- Education
- Healthcare providers/ delivery of care
- Healthcare expense
Identify what is being done in that country to control the disease & barriers that prevent control of transmission.
Grading Rubric
| Criteria | Points |
| Description of disease | |
| Cause & transmission | 2 |
| Symptoms etc. | 2 |
| Populations affected | 2 |
| Effect of disease on… | 6 |
| Control and barriers to control | 3 |
| Total | 15 |
Responses
5 points for each response. Respond to 2 students for each assignment
| Criteria | Possible Points | Earned Points | Comments |
| Responds in a scholarly manner adding information from scholarly source or personal experience | 2 | ||
| Integrates information from the initial posting | 1 | ||
| Provides constructive, respectful feedback to classmate | 1 | ||
| Grammatically correct | 1 | ||
| Total | 5 |
Answer
Tuberculosis (TB)
Contents
Symptoms, severity and effects. 1
Effect on Economic Conditions. 2
Control and Barriers to Control 2
Introduction
TB is a condition that is spread among people through the air. It mostly affects the lungs even though it may also damage other parts of the body such as the spine, kidney, and brain. This dangerous disease may cause death in case a person fails to seek appropriate medication.
Causes and transmission
TB is caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that finds its way into the air when an infected person sneezes, coughs, sings or speaks. The bacteria exist for several hours in the air, whereby the period of existence depends on the environment. When a person inhales air that contains the pathogen, they are at risk of getting infected (Centre of Disease Control and Prevention 2).
Symptoms, severity and effects
Once a person develops an active TB infection, symptoms such as fever, cough, weight loss and night sweats, are experienced for many months. In case of delay in treatment, transmission of bacteriaoccurs, such that an infected person can spread the disease to 10 to 15 other people within a year. According to the World Health Organization, TB is one of the 10 leading cause of death around the world. In 2014, 1.8 million TB-caused deaths occurred, which include 0.4 million HIV-positive victims (World Health Organization).
The Population Affected
In the world, about one third of the population is infected with latent Tuberculosis, which means that they harbor the bacteria, but are not ill and are not (yet) capable of transmitting the disease (World Health Organization). In 2015, some 9,557 TB cases were reported in America, a significant increase from previous years (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2).
Effect on Economic Conditions
TB’ effect on families is often devastating since it reduces the productivity of the affected persons. In the United States, about 1.4 to 2.8 billion dollars is lost to the treatment of the disease annually (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2). The disease has been a major hindrance to the economic growth of the country due to the massive funds being allocated to treat the infected population as well as the resulting reduction in productivity among ill people (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 6).
Control and Barriers to Control
The sheer complexity of TB control calls for collaborative efforts of diverse stakeholder groups. It requires the coming together of individual, organizations, as well as institutions particularly in the public health sector. Besides, even non-participants in the health sector have crucial contributions to make in controlling the disease. Of utmost importance, though, is the need to improve the detection of all TB cases. In this regard, the most important participants include clinicians, hospitals, community health centers, professional medical organizations, academic institutions, pharmaceutical industry, and community-based organizations. Barriers to control may be divided into two categories: disease-specific and structural barriers. The main disease-specific barriers comprise diagnostics (for example, the lengthy process of diagnosis), treatment (for example, drug resistance), and treatment (for example, dearth of infection control knowledge and practice. Lastly, the main structural barrier is divided government attention, whereby TB is merely one of the numerous national-priority diseases whose control measures governments have to address.
Work Cited
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tuberculosis. 9 December 2016. 9 June 2017 <https://www.cdc.gov/tb/statistics/default.htm>.
Centre of Disease Control and Prevention. TB Elimination. Annual Report. Washington, DC: National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, 2011.
World Health Organization. Tuberculosis Fact sheet. Reviewed March 2017,March 2017. 9 June 2017 <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en/>.
