Pneumococcal Diseases Research Paper
It is a well-known fact that a big amount of children die of infectious diseases in the developing world; moreover, these diseases are also the cause of deaths among the adult population. So, a choice of such a global health problem as pneumococcal diseases will help us to explore the problem better, taking into account many important aspects of prevention. In general, infectious diseases take more than 15 million lives each year, while more than 80 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries. One of the goals of human development is to stop the spread of infectious disease epidemic, and results of many health programs greatly depend on the performance of health systems capable of providing predictable and sustainable funding and provision of services in all priority operations.Pneumococcal Diseases Research Paper
First of all, there is a necessity to describe pneumococcal diseases for the purpose to plunge into the problem better. According to Milne & Hoorne (2010), pneumococcal infections include pneumonia, meningitis and febrile bacteremia, as well as otitis media, sinusitis and bronchitis. Moreover, pneumococcal infection is a group of different clinical manifestations of diseases caused by pneumococcus. This infection is often characterized by lesions of the lungs but it can cause other diseases (meningitis, sepsis, quinsy, endocarditis, etc.). Thus, it goes without saying that pneumococcal infections include a group of widespread diseases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, representing an important problem for public health throughout the world. According to WHO experts, it is one of the most commonly encountered bacterial infections in humans. Hampton et al (2012) stated that by the end of 2012, the pneumococcal vaccine was introduced in 88 countries, and immunization coverage has reached 19%.Pneumococcal Diseases Research Paper
Assessing the main factors which make pneumococcal diseases “global” in nature, it is possible to note that as it was previously mentioned, pneumococcal disease is recognized by the World Health Organization to be the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in all regions of the world. The burden of pneumococcal disease is particularly high among children in the first years of life, the elderly and people with chronic diseases to the total number of cases from 15 to 20 million annually. Urgency of the problem for clinicians is conditioned by the high incidence of pneumococcal diseases among all groups and especially in children during the first 5 years of life, severity, high rate of complications and mortality. In addition, due to the growth of acquired resistance to antibiotics, pneumococcal antibiotic therapy of this disease can be a difficult task for a specialist in clinical practice. The current strategy to combat pneumococcal disease is aimed at reducing the incidence and total mortality by vaccination.
Evaluating some steps that are being done with this issue in terms of prevention, there is a need to state that vaccination is considered to be the main instrument of struggle against pneumococcal diseases. It can be also said that vaccine prevention is the most drastic measure for invasive and non-invasive pneumococcal infections. Basis for a decision on the issue of vaccination in each country are epidemiological data on the prevalence of pneumococcal disease among the population. Epidemiological surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease is a complex process of tracking the epidemic in a certain area and for a specific period of time. This involves a retrospective epidemiological analysis of the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease and develops recommendations for the most efficient measures to combat them.Pneumococcal Diseases Research Paper
In addition, continuing discussion of pneumococcal diseases, we see that prevention is aimed at reducing the incidence of pneumococcal disease, prevention of generalized forms of the disease, reducing disability and death among young children and adults. Nonspecific prevention comes to personal hygiene and a healthy lifestyle. As for specific prophylaxis, more than 50% of cases of pneumococcal disease can be prevented by vaccination. WHO data on the different countries show that specific vaccination is the most affordable and economical way to influence the incidence of pneumococcal infection.
Appraising the ways how nursing is contributing to help relieve pneumococcal diseases, we again need to mention vaccination as a first step of prevention of the diseases. Moreover, very often information about disease may help people to avoid some risky situations and to detect the disease on the early stage; in this case the role of nursing is also great. It can be explained by the fact that the majority of parents remain ignorant of modern possibilities of immunization without information. Therefore, nurses as well as other health care professionals should talk about currently existing pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, vaccination schemes, and the need for their implementation in order to reduce morbidity and mortality. Nurses are responsible to follow immunization schedules strictly, and a presence of such procedures helps many people to be vaccinated timely.Pneumococcal Diseases Research Paper
In conclusion, we have observed pneumococcal diseases from various perspectives and proved that this is a global health problem. We have also explained the fact that most cases of pneumococcal disease are preventable in our society, and the main tools used by health care professionals are vaccines.
References
Hampton, L., et al. (2012). Sentinel versus Population-Based Surveillance of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine effectiveness. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 90 (8).
Milne, R., & Hoorne, S. (2010). Burden and Cost of Hospital Admissions for Vaccine-Preventable Paediatric Pneumococcal Disease and Non-Typable Haemophilus Influenzae Otitis Media in New Zealand. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 8 (5). Pneumococcal Diseases Research Paper