Ministry of Health & Family Welfare INITIATIVES & ACHIEVEMENTS-2021
Mumps In Houston ICE Facility: Another Vaccine Preventable Disease To Worry About
The MMR in the name "MMR vaccine" isn't just a long way of saying mister vaccine. The first M stands for measles, as in the ongoing measles outbreak in the state of Washington that has led to a statewide emergency. The R is for rubella, as in a rubella case recently appeared in a major Detroit auto show. Then, there's the other M, which stands for mumps.
With the other two viruses making headlines, perhaps the mumps virus felt a bit left out of the party. Not for long, though. The mumps virus has now made another appearance, this time in Houston, Texas. According to the Houston Health Department, the mumps virus has infected at least seven people at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Houston. In a statement, David Persse, MD, who is the Physician Director of Emergency Medical Services and the Public Health Authority, Department of Health & Human Services for the City of Houston, said, "since these individuals were isolated inside the facility during the period they were infectious, we do not anticipate these cases posing a threat to the community."
Even if these mumps cases are properly isolated, these may not be isolated cases of mumps if people across the country continue to refuse to have their kids receive the MMR vaccine. The mumps virus, like the measles and rubella viruses, is quite contagious. It doesn't take much for the virus to start spreading. If you are infected by the virus, you can have the virus in your saliva and mucus and, in turn, spread the virus to others by doing anything with your mucus or saliva outside your body. That means coughing, sneezing, talking (especially if you rain spit when you talk), kissing, nuzzling, greeting people with your nose, shaking hands if you don't wash your hands frequently and thoroughly, or sharing things that your saliva or mucus may have touched.
For most cases of the mumps, think chipmunks or even "chipmumps." The mumps virus can make you look like a chipmunk. Not that you will begin eating nuts furiously and grow a busy tail. Rather, you can get puffy chipmunk-like cheeks and a swollen jaw. This results from the virus causing your salivary glands to swell. The medical term for such inflamed and tender salivary glands is parotitis, which is pronounced like the bird "parrot" plus "-itis." The picture below shows where these salivary glands, otherwise known as the parotid glands, are located:
GettyAccompanying symptoms may include a fever, headaches, muscle aches, loss of appetite, and a general feeling of ugh. The symptoms can take a while to appear, anywhere between 12 to 25 days after the virus climbs aboard the "you" train. Most commonly, the symptoms will last no longer than a few weeks. Not everyone will have symptoms. Yes, even if you are sexy and you know it, you could even be infected with the virus without knowing it.
If you ask, what's so bad about looking like a chipmunk? After all, aren't there people who dress up like chipmunks? The greater concern about the mumps virus are the complications that may occur.
If you have balls, your testicles could get inflamed (3.3 to 10% of those with balls). This is otherwise known as orchitis or owwwwwwwch. With orchitis, everything you do with or close to your balls can be painful. That includes touching them, adjusting them, urinating, and ejaculating. Heck, even thinking about it can be painful. Your balls may become bigger, but that's nothing to be proud about. You may also have blood in your semen, abnormal discharge, or swelling of your prostate and the lymph nodes in your groin. While most cases of mumps orchitis eventually resolve without permanent damage, there is the small chance that your fertility can be affected.
In less than 1% of all cases, the mumps virus can affect other parts of your body as well, causing them to become inflamed and tender. Possibilities include your ovaries, pancreas, or nipples. These complications typically will not have long term effects.
The biggest concern are the very rare cases in which the mumps virus infects and inflames your brain (encephalitis) or the tissues surrounding your brain and spinal cord (meningitis). These are medical emergencies and can lead to deafness, brain damage or even death. Again, such serious complications of the mumps are very rare (less than 1% of all mumps cases) but are possible.
GettyIf you want to avoid any of these possibilities. There is a simple solution. Get the combination measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine. One dose of the mumps vaccine is on average 78% effective at preventing mumps infections. Two doses is on average 88% effective. Yes, this effectiveness can vary from person to person. Yes, you can still get the mumps if you are vaccinated. But the mumps vaccine can significantly reduce your risk of getting the mumps. Nothing else even comes close to doing so. No supplement. No special diet. No chiropractic manipulation. No potion. No homeopathic remedy. No wall.
The effectiveness of the mumps vaccine also depends on other people around you getting the vaccine. The more people around you who get the vaccine, the better you are protected. That's because the purpose of vaccination programs is not just to protect individuals who get vaccinated but to keep the virus from finding open parking spaces or motels to keep spreading in a population. People who don't get vaccinated are basically open parking spaces or motels, offering the virus a place to rest and reproduce. Yes, if you don't vaccinate your kid, you are making your kid a cheap sleazy motel for viruses. If the mumps virus keeps spreading in a population, you can thank those who don't get vaccinated for being so kind and hospitable to the virus.
So over the past month, the U.S. has been given an M, another M, and an R. What's that spell? More problems if more people don't get the MMR vaccine.
4 Ancient Diseases That Are On The Rise Once Again
Measles, tuberculosis, scarlet fever?! If headlines about ancient diseases on the rise have you worried, you're not alone. Here's what you need to know to stay safe amid outbreaks.
Once a common illness among children and young adults, cases of mumps in the US have dropped by 99% since a vaccine was introduced in 1967. But occurrences crop up, particularly among close-knit communities. There were 322 reported cases of mumps in the U.S. In 2022.
The virus that causes mumps is spread in close quarters (think college dorms or locker rooms) via coughing, sneezing, talking, or sharing cups or eating utensils.
Symptoms of mumps typically appear 16 to 18 days after infection and include:
There is no treatment, but most people recover fully in a few weeks. Complications are rare but can include hearing loss, meningitis, and inflammation of the testicles or ovaries.
The only way to prevent the mumps (aside from avoiding people with it) is to get the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine. Though usually administered to kids, you can get the vaccine at any time. A person with two doses of the vaccine has about an 88% risk reduction for mumps; a person with one dose has a 78% reduction. Booster doses are often recommended during outbreaks.
Like mumps, measles was once widespread. At one time, nearly every American child got the disease before they turned 15, and an estimated 400 to 500 Americans died from it each year. Widespread adoption of the vaccine in the 1960s, however, led to the elimination of the disease from the U.S. In 2000.
Unfortunately, measles has made a comeback. In 2022, there were 121 cases of measles but in 2019 there were 1,274 cases.
The virus that causes measles is spread via coughing and sneezing and is so contagious that 90% of non-immune people near someone infected will get it.
"It travels like a gas through the air," said Dr. Phillips, making it "the ultimate transmissible infection."
Symptoms of measles include:
Complications can include diarrhea and ear infections, and in rare cases, life-threatening pneumonia and encephalitis.
The United States has maintained measles elimination status for almost 20 years. This means that disease is no longer constantly present in this country. However, travelers continue to bring measles into the United States, and it can sometimes spread and cause outbreaks among people who are not vaccinated. This, plus the fact that there is no treatment for measles, makes vaccination imperative.
For children, two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine are required. Teenagers and adults without any evidence of immunity need at least one dose—with members of certain high-risk groups (such as international travelers, healthcare workers, and college students) needing two doses.
Two doses of the vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing the disease, with one dose of the vaccine being 93% effective. It's particularly important to get vaccinated if you're traveling internationally and to follow the vaccination schedule for travelers.
"Prevention is the hallmark," said Dr. Phillips. "If we develop pockets of under-vaccinated people and start having enough transmission, even those individuals who are vaccinated will be at risk."
Leading up to the 1882 discovery of the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, tuberculosis (TB) killed one out of every seven people living in the United States and Europe.
Antibiotics have dramatically reduced its deadliness, particularly in the U.S. In 2014 the World Health Organization launched a new global strategy (End TB) with a vision of a world free of TB, and a 2035 goal of TB elimination (defined as less than one incident case per million).
But it persists. TB is the second leading infectious cause of death worldwide. In 2021, a total of 1.6 million people died from TB.
Though most Americans don't consider TB a threat, it's showing signs of a resurgence: there were 7,882 reported TB cases in the United States in 2021.
TB is caused when Mycobacterium tuberculosis attacks the lungs. It's spread through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks (though not by shaking hands, kissing, or sharing food, drink, or toothbrushes). People with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable.
Symptoms of TB may include:
"Many cases we're seeing involve folks who were infected years before, were asymptomatic, and then the disease reactivates later in life," said Dr. Phillips.
The good news is that TB is curable with treatment, though several different antibiotics may need to be taken over three to 12 months. To stay safe, avoid contact with TB patients, particularly in crowded, enclosed environments. If you think you may have been exposed to someone with TB, see your healthcare provider immediately for testing and possible treatment.
TB is scary enough on its own, but health professionals are particularly worried about the rise of antibiotic-resistant TB throughout the world.
"We're seeing more and more cases that are multi-drug-resistant, which means it requires a second or a third line therapy to treat," said Dr. Phillips. "We have to think globally about this one: helping to prevent cases overseas and working on new drug development can only help keep us safe domestically."
Largely forgotten over the past century thanks to the rise of antibiotics, this bacterial infection is perhaps best known for its role in the classic children's book "The Velveteen Rabbit." (On doctor's orders, when the young protagonist comes down with scarlet fever, all his toys, including his beloved rabbit, must be destroyed.)
But in 2020, a study described scarlet fever as on the rise globally, after being nearly eradicated by the 1940s. The researchers described supercharged 'clones' of the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes as responsible for the worldwide resurgence of scarlet fever that caused a more than a five-fold spike in the disease.
In 2022, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, experienced an increase in cases of scarlet fever, primarily among children under the age of 10.
Scarlet fever almost always begins as strep throat (then patients typically develop a rash)—in fact, scarlet fever is caused by the same type of bacteria as strep throat (Streptococcus). Scarlet fever commonly afflicts children ages 5 to 12.
Common symptoms of scarlet fever include:
Scarlet fever can be diagnosed via a throat swab or throat culture and can be effectively treated with antibiotics.
To stay safe, avoid contact with infected people (the disease spreads via sneezes or coughs), wash your hands regularly (as you would to ward off any communicable disease), and seek treatment as soon as symptoms develop.
"It's easily transmitted in group settings," said Dr. Phillips, "so there is the risk that when a toxigenic strain moves into a community, it would spread rapidly."
Scarlet fever, tuberculosis, mumps, measles: You may think these are deadly diseases of the past, wiped out with vaccines and antibiotics. The truth is that these diseases are still infecting people worldwide, and some have made resurgences in the U.S. Stay healthy and safe with the precautions outlined here.
How To Know Whether You Have Allergies Or A Virus
detroitnews.Com cannot provide a good user experience to your browser. To use this site and continue to benefit from our journalism and site features, please upgrade to the latest version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
Comments
Post a Comment