Infectious diseases are a serious threat, as we now face new infectious diseases and the re-emergence of diseases that had been previously controlled through medications , vaccines, and chemicals.
Many of the remedies that were used in the past to treat many infectious diseases are no longer effective because they have led to drug resistant bacteria and viruses. Physicians over-prescribed antibiotics even when they were unnecessary and would not be effective, as in the case of a viral infection. Farmers routinely give antibiotics to their healthy livestock to promote growth. These practices have led to antibiotic resistant bacteria which are stronger and can be more lethal. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (2008) reported that there has even been the emergence of new bacterial diseases and gene transfer between different strains and species of bacteria. Viruses frequently mutate as evidenced by the influenza virus. There has been an increase in vector borne diseases as well. For example, mosquitoes carrying malaria and other diseases became resistant to insecticides which allowed them to multiply despite the use of insecticides (Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2008). Some infectious diseases are being transmitted from animals to humans. Worldwide travel has increased the speed of transmission and the distance that infectious diseases can spread.
In recent years, there has been an attitude of complacency towards infectious disease. Public health officials had worked toward eliminating infectious disease though efforts such as improved hygiene practices, nutrition, water sanitation, immunization, pasteurization, and antibiotics, which may have resulted in the perception that infectious diseases were no longer a threat. There have been several outbreaks publicized in the media over the last few years including the global spread of HIV, SARS, mad cow disease, measles, monkey pox, Ebola virus, West Nile Virus, Hanta virus, and food poisoning by E. coli and salmonella, to name a few. The threat of infectious diseases is not something occurring in the distant past but is a real threat in the present that must be recognized. The seriousness of infectious disease has once again been thrust into the public spotlight with the declaration by the World Health Organization (2009), of a global pandemic from the H1N1 virus.
Complacency has led some parents to choose not to vaccinate their children. Many parents today have benefited from the vaccines that their own parents had given them and have not experienced or seen the devastating effects of some of these diseases, and therefore do not feel a threat from these diseases. This has led to the reemergence of vaccine-preventable diseases. Vaccines protect the individual receiving them, and if vaccination is widespread, the community may be protected as well due to the reduction in the risk of contact with an infected individual. This protection can be weakened if parents choose not to vaccinate their children, resulting in outbreaks of diseases that could have been prevented. If this occurs, not only can those who are unvaccinated contract these diseases, but even those who have been vaccinated can be at risk.
With the increase in the spread of infectious diseases, it is important to take precautions to protect yourself and your family.
References:
Centers for Disease Control. (2008). Vector control. Retrieved on October 21, 2009 from: http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/control_prevention/vector _control.htm
National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). (2008). Bacterial Infections. Retrieved on October 21, 2009 from: http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/bacterialInfections /
World Health Organization. (2009). Current WHO phase of pandemic alert. Retrieved on October 21, 2009 from: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase /en/index.html