The Disease Yellow Fever
Throughout history many different diseases have infected the world. Such diseases consist of measles, mumps, malaria, typhus and yellow fever. Many of these diseases are caused by different things and originated in different countries.
Yellow fever is a deadly disease caused by a viral infection that is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. Although it is found to be most common in males in their early 20's, yellow fever can affect any sex, race, or age. Since yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes, it is most often found in areas such as Central America, the northern half of South America, and Central Africa where mosquitoes are abundant. The reason why it is found so often in these regions is because they are very close to the equatorial line, and are there for hot, moist, tropical environs.
Yellow fever is also found in other areas besides the ones listed above. It can also be carried throughout South America and all of Africa. Even though it can be carried to these places it is more often than not confined to areas surrounding the equator because mosquitoes have short life spans and yellow fever can be contracted and spread all year long in these tropical regions. In certain places, such as North America, yellow fever has been totally eliminated and the government suggests vaccination for the disease if a citizen is leaving the country.
There are many symptoms of yellow fever and they vary depending on the severity of the disease. Some of the symptoms are basically normal and would not lead the sufferer to believe that something was seriously wrong. The first symptoms, fever, headache, nausea, and backache are common and appear soon after a patient has contracted t...
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... pains, there is also the risk for these people may actually come down with the actual disease itself and not just receive the vaccination. Side effects are usually present within 5-10 days of the vaccination. Knowing beforehand, these people should not travel to tropical regions without being extremely cautious, because of the high risk of getting infected. In the case that a pregnant woman must travel to the tropical region, then she should be vaccinated, but should wait until after delivery to avoid complications associated with the vaccine. Babies are not candidates for receiving the vaccination. People traveling to the tropical region must carry a certificate stating that they have received the vaccination, which is good for 10 years, so that the local government is aware that the person has absolutely no risk of contracting this extremely deadly virus.
...Organization summed it up best by stating “yellow fever is still considered to be a public health emergency of international concern,” (Yellow Fever WHO).
The yellow-fever started in Memphis, Tennessee in a restaurant and soon spread fast across the state and neighboring states. “Yellow fever, which is carried by mosquitos, originally came from West Africa and was brought to the United States on slaves ships” (History, 2009). The impact of the yellow-fever blamed and hated African Americans for spreading it in America. Some politicians that wanted to abolish slavery took this event as something positive for the black. The antislavery followers viewed yellow-fever as the slave owners fault since it was their slave ships that brought the infected to US soil. In the end, this influence both has a good and bad affect for the African American
Yellow fever is a horrible disease for those who begin to show symptoms, and while that number is low, of those who do become ill 50% die; only after having two rounds ...
With no treatment half of patients who enter the second phase die within ten to fourteen days. Similar to yellow fever, malaria was transmitted to humans through mosquito bites, causing symptoms such as fever, fatigue, and vomiting. Difficult to recognize at first malaria continues to cause yellowing of the skin, seizures, and even death; these symptoms normally begin after ten to fifteen days after being contracted. Malaria was brought over to early America through slavery and killed millions of people between the seventeenth and twentieth century. Throughout the growth and expansion of America there was been several disease outbreaks both endemic and epidemic such as small pox, measles, yellow fever, and malaria. Starting with the Colombian exchange and slavery these diseases were brought to the new world and spread like wildfires that devastated populations both native and nonnative. Most commonly known for the death toll on the native Americans these diseases were so costly due to low resistance, poor sanitation, and inadequate
The discovery of yellow fever would have not been possible if people had not put aside their misconceptions of where diseases originated. Diseases in olden time were believed to be divine punishment to people who had committed bad deeds, and therefore not much was done to try to find cures for diseases like yellow fever. As defined by the World Health Organization, yellow fever an acute viral hemorrhagic diseases transmitted by infected mosquitoes, and a common characteristic of this disease is the development of jaundice which gave it the name "yellow" fever. The mosquito responsible for the transmission of the disease is the female Aedes aegypti mosquito. Her transmission of the disease occurs as a result of it biting an infected host and inside her body the virus multiplies, and afterwards if the mosquito bites someone that person becomes infected.
Mosquitoes carried the diseases and when a person got bit he would give a disease to the mosquito and the mosquito would pass it on to the next victim ("Historical Overview").
The main diseases that showed the most virulence during the time were cholera, yellow fever and consumption now known as tuberculosis. The 9th census mortality data showed that 1 out 7 deaths from disease were caused by tuberculosis and 1 out of 24 disease deaths were resulting from cholera. . Until the 1870s...
States. That same year a yellow fever epidemic killed 5,000 people in New Orleans. In
Glasner, Joyce. “Yellow Fever.” Canada’s History 91.3 (2011): 46-47. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Mar. 2014.
Also known as Coccidioidomycosis, Valley fever infections have been on the rise in recent years. Endemic to the desert Southwest, valley fever is caused by the soil-dwelling fungus Coccidioides. The cocci get stirred up by building, drilling, tilling, and clearing land, and disperse due to dry, hot, windy conditions. The spores may be inhaled and are capable of embedding deep into the lungs. Valley fever cannot spread from person to person.
Fifty-nine years after the vaccine was introduced to the world, the number of cases of outbreaks has dropped 99% and only three countries still remain in an epidemic state with the virus, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 1994, the WHO Region of the Americas was certified polio-free and in in 2013 only406 reported cases were existent in the world, compared to the 350 000+ cases in 1988. (Who, 2014).
Valley fever is a fungal pathogen. Coccidioidomycosis is valley fever’s scientific name. The pathogen’s structure is a spore. Valley fever is caused by Coccidioides immitis. Coccidioides immitis is a fungus that grows in soil. Valley fever is most commonly found in areas with little precipitation. This pathogen is most commonly found in the southern United States, Central America, and South America. However, scientists are worried that increased temperatures may cause valley fever to spread and affect new areas.
It began with infection mainly in the blood vessels of the human skin and mouth, resulting in different kinds of symptoms that turn into serious stages. It was spread by physical contact with human skin and mostly affected children and adults. This disease was so outrageous that it led to a vast number of deaths in New England colonies. Also, smallpox virus is transmitted through airborne infection from the oral, nasal mucus of the infected person. But mostly was spread from close contact or contaminated material of the infected person.
The patient presented in the setting of a large epidemiologic study of yellow fever virus;
The most common sites of malaria-carrying mosquitoes is in tropical and subtropical areas with warm climates. Also, there must be a source of water, such as a lake, ocean, or stream, because this is where the mosquitoes breed. While Africa is the site of most malaria cases, there are a few other countries that account for some of the malaria cases. In fact, in 1990, seventy-five percent of all recorded malaria cases outside Africa were condensed in nine countries, which were India, Brazil, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and China. There was once a small malaria epidemic in the United States. It occurred mainly in Army families. This was because U.S. troops in other countries were not on the proper medication, contracted the disease, and brought it back to the United States.