China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Infectious Disease
Published in John S. Axford, Chris A. O'Callaghan, Medicine for Finals and Beyond, 2023
Susanna J. Dunachie, Hanif Esmail, Ruth Corrigan, Maria Dudareva
Infectious diseases can present with a wide range of symptoms including: FeverHeadacheMalaise and fatigueGastrointestinal (GI) disturbance including anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipationMyalgia and arthralgiaRashFocal symptoms for localized infection (e.g. dysuria for urinary tract infection, joint pain for septic arthritis)
Epidemiology, Disease Transmission, Prevention, and Control
Published in Julius P. Kreier, Infection, Resistance, and Immunity, 2022
Basically, infectious diseases are transmitted by direct contact, or by indirect contact. The latter occurs when a vehicle such as water or air, or a vector is involved. Infectious agents spread from a source or reservoir to a person directly or indirectly. in direct contact, there is a transfer of the organism from an infected human or animal to another in which the infection may take place. Direct contact (person to person or animal to animal) implies that the infectious source and the susceptible host come into physical contact. This may be by touching, biting, kissing, or sexual intercourse. Infectious mononucleosis is transmitted by kissing, while AIDS, syphilis, and gonorrhea are transmitted by sexual intercourse. Direct transmission also occurs by droplet spray during sneezing, coughing, spitting, singing, or talking. Tuberculosis and the common cold are transmitted by droplet spray. Droplets containing infectious material reaching the conjunctiva or the mucous membranes of the eye, nose, or mouth can cause infection. Droplets are large, 5 μm particles, that travel short distances through the air (<1 m) and settle out quickly.
Communicable, infectious and parasitic conditions
Published in Jackie Musgrave, Health and Wellbeing for Babies and Children, 2022
Globally, there are many initiatives to prevent infectious diseases spreading by promoting vaccinations programmes. Bill Gates (Davies 2019) describes how the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has helped to tackle polio:Take polio as an example. In 1988, there were 350,000 people in 125 countries being paralysed every year by polio. But that same year the world established the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to immunize children against the disease. Since then, we’ve seen a 99.99% reduction in cases, down to 33 cases of wild poliovirus last year. Today, the virus is endemic in just three nations – Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Intermediate Uveitis: A Review
Published in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 2023
Andrea York Tiang Teo, Bjorn Kaijun Betzler, Keith Low Qie Hua, Elizabeth Jiahui Chen, Vishali Gupta, Rupesh Agrawal
In brief, taking a thorough history regarding general medical history, travel history, and social history may prove useful in identifying the type of IU. Endemicity of certain infectious diseases should increase clinical suspicion of the disease as a causative factor of IU (e.g. higher incidences of tuberculous IU in India, Myanmar, and Singapore; toxoplasmosis-associated IU in India and Sri Lanka). The presence of associated clinical signs in systemic and infectious diseases should also be considered when investigating the underlying cause (e.g. characteristic rashes, neurological deficits, lymphadenopathy). Finally, it must not be forgotten that progressively worsening IU refractory to treatment in an older age group could be indicative of a malignant etiology, as with the masquerade syndromes.
The development of live biotherapeutics against Clostridioides difficile infection towards reconstituting gut microbiota
Published in Gut Microbes, 2022
Yongrong Zhang, Ashley Saint Fleur, Hanping Feng
Due to the wide usage of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance has become a challenge in clinics to treat infectious diseases. C. difficile is one of the representative superbugs that is hard to treat with antibiotics. As knowledge grows, the role of gut microbiota in human health turns more transparent and gains more attention. Over the past decade, numerous studies have provided evidence to support that homeostasis of gut microbiome will shield hosts from invasion by opportunistic pathogens. Thus, ideas about reconstituting the disturbed microbiome to treat CDI are emerging. Precise and generic intestinal engraftments with various microbiota have been widely explored. Remarkable milestones have been achieved in CDI treatment using microbiota, although the long-term impact on human health is unknown. Genetically modified probiotics that specifically target C. difficile pathogenesis provide a brand-new direction for the treatment of this antibiotic resistant superbug. Despite a short history, microbial therapies in the C. difficile field open up a new era in drug development targeting gut disorders. Meanwhile, criteria about using microbiota are also in urgent need to unify the application in patients.
When to investigate for secondary hyperhidrosis: data from a retrospective cohort of all causes of recurrent sweating
Published in Annals of Medicine, 2022
Nived Collercandy, Camille Thorey, Elisabeth Diot, Leslie Grammatico-Guillon, Eve Marie Thillard, Louis Bernard, François Maillot, Adrien Lemaignen
Taking into account our main findings, we suggest a diagnostic approach by the mean of an algorithm for the investigation of recurrent sweating (Figure 2). Duration of less than 3 weeks is mainly associated with infectious diseases. Proper investigation of recurrent sweating should be considered after at least 3 weeks’ duration. We suggest key clinical examination points and simple tests that could help orientate the investigation according to the aetiologies we report. Duration of one year or more is poorly associated with infections and malignancies, and other diagnoses should thus be considered in the absence of other signs in favour. Fever, impaired general condition, and CRP > 5.6 mg/l could be useful signs to consider inflammatory diseases. Second-line diagnostic procedures should be directed by examination. In the event of strong suspicion of malignancy or infection, FDG-PET/CT may help the investigation [18].