The Battle Of Midway Essay, Research Paper
I am doing a report on the disease Diphtheria. The
definition of the disease is a bacterial disease that
affects the throat and can cause serious or fatal
complications. It is a serious disease caused by the
bacterium. There is a lot of history on this disease. In
the late 1800?s diphtheria came across western Europe and
the United States, it killed thousands of children. The
diphtheria characterized by infection is more contagious
than the disease characterized by respiratory infection.
Diphtheria is a disease of the respiratory system. It
causes membranes to grow on the inner throat. Sometimes the
membranes release a toxin into the bloodstream(which is
poisonous). The membranes clog the air passages then you
can hardly breath, most of the time you will die. You
should have complete bedrest for two to three weeks. Then a
man named Bela Schick came over the Schick test. He
discovered that the disease was only to be found in humans.
It may sometimes enter and effect the skin. This disease is
now rare in most of the world. That is most of the history
on diphtheria.
There are many symptoms that can aware you that you
have the disease. You should notice the first symptoms
during the first through seventh days after you get it.
Some of the first symptoms you sill get are fatigue, a
low-grade fever, and a sore throat. Next you will also
notice swelling to the neck. Some other symptoms are
painful swallowing, nausea and vomiting, chills, bloody,
watery drainage from nose, scabbing of nostrils and upper
lip, bluish coloration of skin, fever, headache, breathing
difficulty, croup-like cough, hoarseness, stridor, drooling,
and rapid breathing. Those are most of the symptoms of
Diphtheria.
There are many treatments for Diphtheria. As soon as
the disease is suspected diphtheria antitoxin is given as an
intramuscular injection. The Disease is treated with
antibiotics. As an infant you should safely be give the DPT
vaccine. This vaccine is a three in one vaccine that
protects against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus. The
vaccine has some side effects as slight fever, crankiness,
and tenderness of skin. DPT is usually given in the leg or
the arm. You can also be give the DT vaccine. The DT
vaccine is a two in one vaccine. This vaccine should be
given to children less than seven years old. This is given
in the arm or the thigh. This protects against diphtheria
and tetanus. There is one last vaccine. It is the Td
vaccine. The Td vaccine is also a two in one vaccine that
protects against tetanus and diphtheria. This should be
give to adults only. After the regular series of
injections, a booster of Td vaccine should be taken at the
<age of fourteen to sixteen and every ten years after that.
This is a different dose than the DT vaccine. This one is
usually given in the arm. The vaccination is one of the
recommended childhood immunizations and should begin during
infancy. A lot of times it is required before the children
start school. There is a minimum of three injections, but
there can be five taken.
There is a benefit of taking the vaccine. The benefit
is that 85% of the people who received three injections of
the vaccine will be protected from the disease for ten
years.
There are also some risks involved with the vaccines.
DPT often causes mild side effects suck as slight fever,
mild crankiness, and tenderness of the injection site for a
few days. They happen because of the pertussis component of
the vaccine. DTP can cause some risks in one out of every
one thousand seven hundred and fifty people. These effects
are convulsions, febrile seizure, and shock or collapse. In
some cases brain damage has also been known to happened.
This is very rare though. If you have has seizures before
this time then you are most likely to have seizures. There
is also death which is a very rare possibility too.
There are also some contradictions you might run into
about the vaccinations also. If your child is sick with
something more serious than a mild cold, the vaccine may be
put off until the child is feeling better. If your child
has seizures or brain damage the vaccine will also be put
off until tests show that they are not getting worse. After
your child has had the vaccine you should contact a
physician if the following happened: seizures within three
to seven days after injection, any serious brain problem
within seven days after injection, worsening of seizures or
other brain problem, mouth, throat, or face swelling within
a few hours after injection, difficulty breathing within a
few hours after injection, temperature of one hundred and
five degrees Fahrenheit or higher within two days after
injection, shock or collapse within two days after
injection, and persistent, uncontrolled crying that lasts
for more than three hours at a time within two days after
injection. For one or two days after the injection it is
normal for the child to experience fever, soreness at the
injection site, swelling at the injection site, and redness
at the injection site. Adults who just recently get the
shot can has swelling at the injection site for up to three
days.
You can get an examination from a physician and it may
show that there are characteristics of gray membranes in the
throat, enlarged lymph glands, and swelling of the neck or
larynx. The test includes gram stain of membrane, throat
culture, and ECG.