РефератыИностранный языкEnEncephalitis Essay Research Paper Encephalitis literally meaning

Encephalitis Essay Research Paper Encephalitis literally meaning

Encephalitis Essay, Research Paper


Encephalitis, literally meaning inflammation of the brain, is a viral disease caused by many


viruses that cause the brain to swell. It can also be caused by exposure to harmful chemicals as


well as a complication of another disease. The strains of this pathogen that are present in North


America include western encephalitis, eastern encephalitis, La Crosse, and St. Louis encephalitis.


These viruses infect all ages and sexes equally, however the fatality rate is much higher in infants


and the elderly.


This deadly, but highly unknown disease is carried to it?s victims through mosquitoes, and


occasionally ticks. These arthropods pick up the virus from an infected host, usually birds,


horses, or cows, and carry it for four to fourteen days, or faster when warm weather is present.


This allows the virus to replicate. At this time, they are able to infect humans and other animals


with the virus.


Once contaminated, the person may not notice symptoms for one or two weeks. At the


end of that time he will notice drowsiness, headaches, stupor, abnormal vision, and sleep


disturbances in normal cases. In more severe cases, the infected party may experience seizures,


paralysis, cardiac or respiratory arrest, and he may go into a coma. Thirty-eight percent of these


severe cases will end in death after two weeks.


When a physician suspects that a patient may have encephalitis, he will first observe the


symptoms. If these symptoms continue to point toward the virus, the doctor will perform a


lumbar puncture, checking the the pressure as the fluid drains. Then he will examine the spinal


fluid, looking for high amounts of white blood cells or proteins. Now the doctor must isolate the


virus or do a blood work-up to be sure this is the disease the patient has been infected with.


When this procedure is not correctly followed, the patient can be misdi

agnosed as having multiple


sclerosis, polio, or meningitis.


Encephalitis has no cure, but most of the symptoms can be treated. In order to recover


quickly, it is recommended that the patient gets plenty of bed rest and that he stay under medical


supervision for the duration of the illness. Even when he follows these instructions, he may be


sick for several months, and there is a 25% chance that the patient will never fully recover.


There are no vaccines for encephalitis, but with proper precautions it can be prevented.


The best way to avoid the virus is to avoid mosquitoes. Some things you can do include wearing


insect repellent, wearing long sleeves and pants, and fixing window and door screens in the home.


You can also encourage your city government to invest in finding mosquito breeding sites,


population and density. When the city knows these things, they are able to control high


population with larvivorous fish or insecticides.


Bibliography


Encyclopedia


Weller, Thomas H. ?Encephalitis.? The World Book Encyclopedia,


1981


?Encephalitis.? Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1997


Specialized Encyclopedia


Kunz, Jeffrey and Asher Finkel, editors. ?Encephalitis.?


The American Medical Association Family Medical Guide.


1987


Baldridge, Iona C. ?Encephalitis.? Health and Illness. 1995


Books


Benarde, Melvin A. Our Precarious Habitat. New York: Norton


Publishers, 1970


Textbooks


Johnson, George B, editor. Biology: Visualizing Life. Austin: Holt,


Rinehart, & Winston, 1998


Internet


?Human case of eastern equine encephalitis confirmed in southeastern


Massachusetts? http://www.magnet.state.ma.us/dph/eeepress.htm


Other resources


Guralnik, David B. Webster?s New World Dictionary.


New Jersey: William Collins Publishers, 1980

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