How Diphtheria Has Affected the Citizens of the United States - Research Paper Example

How Diphtheria Has Affected the Citizens of the United States Introduction Diphtheria is a disease caused by a bacterium called Corynebacterium diphtheria (Kidshealth par1). The bacterium releases a toxic substance that forms a thick coat in the throat, nose and airway. This coat which is usually black causes a lot of problems or difficulty in breathing and swallowing. Diphtheria is highly contagious (spreads easily and quickly) and mainly attacks the throat and the nose according to Better Heath Channel (para 1). However, in severe cases it may affect the heart, kidneys and nerves (Kidshealth). The disease commonly affects children below the age of five years and adults above sixty years. It is also common in regions where people stay in crowded and unclean conditions. Persons who are not well nourished and not immunized or not properly immunized are also at risk of contracting the disease. Diphtheria spreads very easily because it is air bone. A person can get the disease by inhaling the diphtheria bacteria after an infected individual has sneezed or coughed (Kidshealth). Diphtheria usually affects the throat and at its early stages it causes sore throat and mild fever. However, as it advances a person may experience difficulty in breathing and swallowing, complain of double vision, have slurred speech, have swollen lymph glands and tissue on the neck and show signs of going into shock. If the disease in not treated well, the toxin produced by the bacteria spreads to the entire body and causes very serious complications which may lead to death. It has been reported that between 5-10 % of those who contract the disease die (Immunization Action Coalition para 1). The toxin released can destroy the heart muscles and lead to heart failure or damage the nerves and cause paralysis. It may also damage the kidney and affect its ability to purify the blood. Also, the coating that usually develops over the tonsils can travel deeper into the throat and cause blockage on the airway (Immunization Action Coalition). Diphtheria can be prevented by immunization of children with the diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTP) vaccine. However, adults who failed to be immunized at their young ages can be immunized with the diphtheria/tetanus vaccine. The disease can be treated with diphtheria antitoxin medicine and antibiotics. The antitoxin fights the diphtheria toxin and the antibiotic fights the diphtheria bacteria (Kidshealth). Diphtheria in the United States and other Countries Before the development of the diphtheria antitoxin medicine in the early twentieth century, diphtheria was a major cause of childhood deaths in the US. About 100,000 to 200,000 cases of diphtheria were reported each year with close to 15,000 deaths (Immunization Action Coalition 1). However, due to constant or widespread immunizations which began in the mid of the twentieth century, diphtheria has been very rear in both the US and Europe. Nonetheless, the disease is still a major threat to the lives of people living in the developing countries where immunizations are not issued constantly or routinely. In the 1990s, close to 60,000 cases of diphtheria were reported during a massive resurgence of diphtheria that occurred in countries of the former Soviet Union. The factors that contributed to the outbreak of the disease included population movements, reduced vaccination levels among children and poor administration of adult booster vaccination. Between 1998 and 2003, only seven cases of respiratory diphtheria were reported and there were no such cases during 2004 through 2009 (Immunization Action Coalition 1). These reduced numbers of diphtheria cases are credited to the legislations and the reforms that the Unite States government initiated or done in health sector to safeguard the health of its citizens. For instance, the death threats posed by the disease on the young children compelled the citizens and the government of US to initiate the Childhood Immunization Initiative (CII) to increase vaccination coverage of two year old children. Generally, diphtheria is not a common disease in the United States of America. It only affects the United States citizens who may not have been properly immunized and those who travel to other countries where it may be common. However, these cases of infections are usually controlled by the government immediately they are noticed. The US government has placed health measures to deal with these cases the moment they are reported. For example, travelers who are not vaccinated or who are not completely vaccinated against the disease are required to take the recommended doses before they can travel (Health line para 8). One of the factors facilitating control of the disease in the US than in other countries, particularly those in the developing regions is the elaborate disease screening program embarked by the health sector. Under the health policy provisions that the country has, there are systematic and well outlined measures to handle various immunizable diseases at the most appropriate time of intervention and prevention (Fogarty 278). The heavy health expenditure incurred by the government in elimination of preventable diseases through programs at the policy level has been a huge victory for the US government in comparison with several other countries. It is not only through screening that such diseases as diphtheria were successfully contained in the country but through a number of other interventions such as constant disease surveillance. The US is also one of the leading countries in carrying out health research funding and facilitation. By participating in various research support programs over the world through capacity building and funding, the US has directly facilitated finding of better disease control in preventive medicine. The result of such input can not be ignored due to the success it has brought over the years in containment of diseases such as diphtheria to only a few isolated cases (Fogarty 274). The data obtained through the network of disease research conducted throughout the world, the USA has been able to formulate disease quarantine programs when necessary, such as during major outbreaks (Lynfield and Mikanatha 462). According to the authors, the Federal Quarantine Authority can only carry out its mandate with a well coordinated surveillance of disease agents from suspicious regions. Through such measures, diphtheria and other diseases are controlled from entering the US or other states. Although the diphtheria is rare in the United States of America, it is endemic in some countries especially the developing countries. It has been reported in some parts of Africa, Central and South America, Asia and even some parts of Europe particularly countries of the former Soviet Union where close to 47,000 cases and 1,700 deaths were reported between 1990 and 1995(Ryan and Ray 473). The disease is endemic in these developing countries because they do not widely carry out routine immunization against it. In Algeria, the disease killed more than 30 people in 1993 according to Lax (73). Those killed were mainly teenagers and young adults. In 2002, out of the 9235 cases of diphtheria reported globally, more than 82% were from Africa, South East Asia and eastern Mediterranean (Wallace 119). Currently, in developing countries the age distribution of diphtheria cases reflects the status of immunity of the population and the disease mainly affects children under the age of 15 years. Socioeconomic changes mainly migration from rural areas to urban and sociocultural changes such as improved hygiene and different living styles may change the epidemiological pattern of this disease in the developing countries Conclusion Although Diphtheria may have been a major concern in the United States long a go, this is not the case today. The country has very few cases of the disease owing to the immunization and treatment measures that have been instituted in the war to completely eliminate it in the country. In most developed countries including Canada and the United Kingdom, this is similarly the case. However, most developing and underdeveloped countries still grapple with the disease to a large scale. The widespread existence of the disease in such counties is widely associated with the lack of effective immunization strategies. Work Cited Immunization Action Coalition. Diphtheria: questions and answers. 2011. Web. 29 Mar, 2011. Available at http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4203.pdf Lax Alistair. Toxin: The Cunning of Bacterial Poisons Oxford University Press. Print. 2005. Ryan James and Ray George. Sherris Medical Microbiology (5th Ed.) McGraw Hill Professional. Print. 2010. Wallace, Robert. Wallace/Maxcy-Rosenau-Last Public Health and Preventive Medicine (15Edit) McGraw-Hill Professional. Print. 2008. Lynfield, Ruth & Mikanatha, Nkuchia M. Infectious disease Surveillance. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2007. Print Fogarty, John Preventive medicine USA: task force report. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis, 1976. Print Better Heath Channel. Diphtheria. Web. 2011. 29 Mar, 2011. Available at http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Diphtheria?open Kidshealth. About Diphtheria. 2011. Web. 29 Mar, 2011. Available at http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/diphtheria.html# Healthline. Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids. 2011. Web. 29 Mar, 2011. Available at http://www.healthline.com/ahfscontent/diphtheria-and-tetanus-toxoids Read More