Hantavirus Pulmonary Disease Essay
Describe one of the outbreaks over the past 20 years. What measures were used to prevent transmission of the virus?
Over the past few decades, an exponential increase of the world population has caused a number of outbreaks of new infections and even led to previously unknown viruses and bacteria. Statistics has shown a significant increase in a number of patients who suffer from rare and serious diseases that cause hundreds of deaths a year worldwide. One of such documented outbreaks, Hantavirus pulmonary disease (HPS), “was first identified in the United States in 1993, there have been 62 cases in California residents and over 600 cases nationally.” (National Park Service, 2012) Human population continues to growth, outbreaks occur annually, but death rates in these outbreaks are higher than expected.Hantavirus Pulmonary Disease Essay
For example, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Asia was one of those “unexpected viruses” that was spreading at unprecedented rates. SARS was caused by the SARS coronavirus which negatively affected the individual’s overall health, led to severe breathing difficulties, and sometimes fatal results. In other words, the SARS is a serious form of pneumonia that spreads by close contacts between people, through the air (infected droplets), or breathing or touching the infected objects. The SARS was first discovered in late 2002 in China, and within weeks spread all over the globe. While officials and centers for disease control and prevention were implementing measures to prevent the transmission of the disease (activated emergency centers, announced a global alert, issued infection control precautions and specific guidance, enhanced health alert for travelers) the virus spread to “37 countries through air travel” and “infected 8,000 people worldwide, about 800 of whom died.” (Gholipour, 2013)
The SARS outbreak in Asia was one of those “unexpected viruses” that was spreading at unprecedented rates. As facts shows, “the outbreak lasted approximately six months as the disease spread to more than two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia before it was stopped in July 2003.” (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Hantavirus Pulmonary Disease Essay3)
References:
Gholipour, B. (2013). 5 Scariest Disease Outbreaks of the Past Century. Retrieved 13 Feb.2017from http://www.livescience.com/41478-scariest-disease-outbreaks.html
National Park Service (2012). Hantavirus in Yosemite. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hantavirus.htm
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (2013). CDC SARS Response Timeline. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/about/history/sars/timeline.htm Hantavirus Pulmonary Disease Essay