The enemy is everywhere. Trillions of them surround you, invisible, intangible, their mere existence quite capable of killing you. You have defenses, but they can avoid or destroy those defenses and work their will upon your body. From bacteria and viruses, there is no escape. Throughout human history, we have been at war with them… the front lines our very bodies. It is a war we are not winning.
We have developed few effective tactics against them. Our oldest tactic, sterilization, was first used circa 3000 B.C. when the Egyptians used antiseptics such as pitch and tar in the creation of their mummies. The next five thousand years saw considerable development in this process of killing bacteria, and today surgical instruments are sterilized using steam and ionized gasses (1, 2). Almost as old, systems of sanitation are similar to sterilization, in that they reduce or eliminate exposure to potentially dangerous bacteria. In short supply however, have been tactics to combat infectious disease after the bacteria have already gained a foothold have been in short supply through most of human history. Once infected, we could only sit back and hope the body’s immune system would take care of the problem. That all changed in 1928 when Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic. An infected person could be given penicillin, and the drug would kill the bacteria in the body, removing the infection (3). Finally, after 5000 years of war, a truly effective tactic had been discovered.
In 1943 companies began mass-producing penicillin to treat bacterial infection. Less than four years later, the first resistant strains were discovered (4). We developed different antibiotics,...
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(14) “The Incredible Shrinking Computer.” Small Times. http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=2379. October 15, 2001.
(15) Leo, Alan. “Blue is for Biohazard.” Technology Review. http://www.techreview.com/web/leo/leo082701.asp. October 15, 2001.
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Penicillin, derived from the mold Penicillium, is the first antibiotic to successfully treat bacterial infections on humans. It was accidentally discovered by scientist, Alexander Fleming. While Fleming was growing Staphylococcus, a serious and often deadly infection, in a dish, he noticed the bacteria had stopped growing after a mold found its way
Lovgren, Stefan. Can Art Make Nanotechnology Easier t Understand? 23 December 2003. Web. 3 May 2014. .
Kate Chopin's The Awakening tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother living in the upper crust of New Orleans in the 1890s. It depicts her journey as her standing shifts from one of entrapment to one of empowerment. As the story begins, Edna is blessed with wealth and the pleasure of an affluent lifestyle. She is a woman of leisure, excepting only in social obligations. This endowment, however, is hindered greatly by her gender.
Years later other scientists were also intrigued by the possibilities of penicillin and produced enough penicillin to prove that it was a useable antibiotic. The scientists from Great Britain were developing all of this during World War II, and unfortunately funding for their drug was unavailable due to the war. They decided to bring their concepts to the United States, and once enough was made, it was eventually used, to treat wounded soldiers during World War I.
Japanese internment camps are an important part of American history. They represented and showed much of the change that happened around World War II. Although many people may say that races other than African-Americans were not that discriminated against, that was not the case. The Japanese-American People lost their homes, livelihood, and were separated from their families. More people should know about this event so as to learn from it and let something similar never to repeat it. Japanese internment camps should be an event all new American’s learn about because of its importance in World War II, the influence racism had on the camps, and for being one of the biggest violations of civil rights in American history
Most people know what vaccines are and have received them during our childhood years; but past that knowledge, most people do not think much about vaccines until we have children of our own. Some parents are more skeptical than others on the topic of vaccinations, but most parents choose this preventative measure in protecting their children from harmful diseases. However, in the case of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, there is quite a controversy as to if it is appropriate to administer the vaccine to pre-teen to teenage children. Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually-transmitted infection in the United States; an estimated 14 million persons are newly infected every year (Satterwhite,
To conclude, I think mandating the HPV vaccine is not a good idea, but however I do recommend the vaccine for girls of age. There are a lot of impediments if the vaccine was to be mandated in order to attend school, being that there are individuals who are against certain vaccines. A member of a school board stated that she is all for girls to getting the vaccine because it will protect them from a devastating disease, but if its mandatory then you have to get into do you start to keep children out of school so the legal implications is what I’m a little uncomfortable with (Gaston, 2007). The ethical implications is that it will undermine the abstinence-based prevention message, interfere with one’s principle autonomy, religious values and beliefs, distributive justice matters and many implications on cost.
The internment camps was a calamitous experience for many Japanese Americans. The Japanese American’s struggle was divided into evacuation, the camps, and life afterwards. Many will never forget the great injustice wrought upon them from the United States government.
Vamos, C, Mcdermott, R, & Daley, E 2008, 'The HPV Vaccine: Framing the Arguments FOR and AGAINST Mandatory Vaccination of All Middle School Girls', Journal Of School Health, 78, 6, pp. 302-309, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 10 November 2013.
All families should get their children vaccinated against the most common STD in America, the Human papilloma virus (HPV). As health care professionals it is essential to educate parents and adolescents about the HPV virus which can cause genital warts along with many varieties of cancers including cervical, penile and throat cancer. The vaccine will guard against four strains of the virus. Two of these strains are known to cause 70% of cervical cancer cases and the other two cause 90% of genital warts (Kara Newby, 2009). Another reason to receive the HPV vaccine is to promote sexual and reproductive health education. Two of the biggest arguments against the HPV vaccine are the high cost and that some parents feel it will make their teenagers feel invisible and may engage in more risky sexual behaviors if vaccinated.
In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, discovered the first natural antibiotic: Penicillin. All of you reading this have at some point in time made use of his discovery. Penicillin antibiotics were among the first drugs to be effective against many previously serious diseases, such as syphilis and infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. Antibiotics in general remain one of the cornerstones of modern health care, acting as something we all hope to rely on when we get sick. We could very easily name the 20th century “the age of the antibiotic,” and it would be well deserved, indeed. But time is running out.
Throughout history disease has run rampant taking many lives with every passing day. Finding a cure or even just a tool in the battle has been the main focus of scientist throughout time. This focus is what brought us the discovery of antibiotics. Over the years antibiotics have been misused by patients, over prescribed by physicians and have led to resistant strains of bacteria.
Thesis: With the advent of antibiotics in 1929 Fleming said, "The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops.Then there is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant."With the overuse of antibiotics today we have seen this very idea come to be.Over usage is caused most prevalently by a lack of education on the part of the patient.Thus stated, the way to overcome such a circumstance is to educate, not only the patient but also the physician.
people disagree with the HPV vaccine because of lack of advice, it is important to educate and
Parents are not sure why the Government wants children, at the age of 11, to receive a shot that will protect them against a sexual disease. It also caused controversy because parents feel as though the vaccine is putting the idea in the children’s minds that involving themselves in sexual activity is acceptable. There are also parents who actually agree with mandating this vaccine because they are aware that sexually transmitted diseases are a huge issue in today’s society and if they can protect their child from this they will do anything necessary. Some parents say that this vaccine is too new on the market and there has not been enough research behind it so before they will give this vaccine to their children they need proof that it protects against HPV. Though there are many people who disagree with mandating the vaccine, the shot will help the child in the future. It is not introducing sex, it is protecting them from sexual diseases that could possibly appear in their future. Parents need to realize that in today’s society people are beginning to have sex even younger so the sooner they are protected the