VIRUS
I feel strange today
Sometimes I watch myself
through strange eyes
I don't recognize
my usual environment
Hallucinating ...
reading something
that disappears
after a second attempt
Did I imagine it all?
Starting to sweat heavily
only for a few seconds and
it seems I hear and see
things who aren't there
Do I have a fever?
The thermometer
denies my curious condition
Still, I think I caught a virus
with my name on it
Sometimes I watch myself
through strange eyes
I don't recognize
my usual environment
Hallucinating ...
reading something
that disappears
after a second attempt
Did I imagine it all?
Starting to sweat heavily
only for a few seconds and
it seems I hear and see
things who aren't there
Do I have a fever?
The thermometer
denies my curious condition
Still, I think I caught a virus
with my name on it
Cholera -- Alec Kim, Corey Lajeunesse
Enteric Fever -- Alec Kim, Corey Lajeunesse
Ebola -- Alec Kim, Corey Lajeunesse
Rota Virus---- Alec Kim, Corey Lajeunesse
Hepatitis E -- Alec Kim, Corey Lajeunesse
Shigellosis -- Alec Kim, Corey Lajeunesse
“Cholera” is from the Greek “kholera,” from “kholē” (bile). It probably originated in the Indian subcontinent and then spread to Russia in 1817 and the rest of the world. Seven cholera pandemics have occurred in the past 200 years, with the 1st in Bengal in 1817-1824, the 2nd in Europe and North America from 1827-1835, the 3rd in North Africa and South America from 1839-1875, the 4th in India and southern Europe from 1863-1875, the 5th in India, Europe, Asia, and South America from 1881-1896, the 6th lasted from 1899-1923, and the 7th originating in Indonesia in 1961. Since the early 19th century it has killed tens of millions of people, and 100,000 to 130,000 still die each year. Children under 5 are at the highest risk. The disease is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Symptoms start 2 hours to 5 days after exposure and include vomiting, stomach cramps, and large amounts of watery diarrhea, called “rice-water,” that lasts a few days and can be so severe that it leads within hours to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, resulting in sunken eyes, cold skin, decreased skin elasticity, and wrinkling of the hands and feet; dehydration can cause the skin to turn blue.
ReplyDeleteEnteric fever includes typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever. Typhoid fever symptoms begin 6-30 days after exposure and include a high fever for several days, weakness, abdominal pain, constipation, and stomach cramps. Symptoms may persist over weeks or months. Typhoid means “resembling typhus” (though the diseases are unrelated) and is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi which grows in the intestines and blood. Paratyphoid fever has similar symptoms and is caused by 3 strains of Salmonella enterica. Over 200,00 people die from enteric fever every year.
Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever caused by 4 ebolaviruses in the family Filoviridae which were 1st described in southern Sudan and Zaire in 1976, along the Ebola river. A fever, sore throat, decreased appetite, joint and muscular pain, a sore throat, and headaches begin between 2 days and 3 weeks after contracting the virus, followed by vomiting, diarrhea, and a rash, along with decreased liver and kidney functioning. At this time, some people begin to bleed internally and externally; bleeding into the whites of the eyes may occur. Recovery may begin 7-14 days after the 1st symptoms, but the disease kills between 25 and 90% of those infected, mainly due to low blood pressure from fluid loss, and typically follows 6-16 days after symptoms appear. Survivors may have ongoing muscular and joint pain, liver inflammation, decreased hearing, continued tiredness and weakness, decreased appetite, and difficulty returning to pre-illness weight as well as vision problems. Since its 1st outbreak in 1974, over 4,000 people have died.
Rota Virus is the most common cause of diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children; nearly every child is infected at least once by the age of 5, and a ½ million die every year. The virus, in the family Reoviridae, infects and damages the cells that line the small intestine and causes gastroenteritis (which is often misdiagnosed as "stomach flu"). After infection there is a 2-day incubation period, then vomiting is followed by 4-8 days of profuse diarrhea, fever, shock, and electrolyte imblance. Dehydration is more common in rota virus infection than in most of those caused by bacterial pathogens and is the most common cause of death. It was not discovered until 1973, and the following year it was named because a rotavirus particle looks like a wheel (“rota” in Latin)
ReplyDeleteHepatitis E is a liver inflammation that kills nearly 60,000 every year (and 3 million acute illnesses). It is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, 1/3 of whom die. The incubation period varies from 3 to 8 weeks. After a short prodromal phase, symptoms lasting from days to weeks follow and may include jaundice, fatigue, and nausea. Infection may lead to chronic infection, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and problems in other organs. The incubation period ranges from 3 to 8 weeks, and outbreaks most commonly occur after heavy rainfalls and monsoons because of their disruption of water supplies
Shigellosis is a type of diarrhea. Symptoms generally start 1-2 days after exposure, include fever, abdominal pain and cramps, and typically last 5-7 seven days. Complications can include post-infectious arthritis, sepsis, seizures, and hemolytic uremic syndrome. About a million people die of it every year. It is one of the major causes of deaths in children under 5.