Environmental and Global Health Issues: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Essay Example

Environmental and Global Health Issues SARS is the abbreviation for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. It is a disease which is an epidemic and is much similar to cold but much severe as compared to common cold. The breakout of this disease was in the year 2003 when it rapidly spread in large parts of Asia, Europe and America. Severe and immediate actions were taken for the control of this disease and within a few months it was brought much under control and the number of effected cases reduced to almost zero. Actions were taken against the countries from which this disease originated and migration of the people from such countries was stopped. Health care centers and nurses became very active and strict precautionary measures were taken for the controlling of the disease. Environmental and Global Health Issues Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a viral lung disease which is caused by coronavirus often referred to as SARS –CoV. It is serious or an extreme case of pneumonia. A person suffering from SARS will have to face severe difficulty in breathing and sometimes may even face death. The first case of SARS was found in Asia in 2003 and within a few months it spread in numerous countries all over the world. It is a well-studied example of a communicable disease and a disease that can spread easily due to the travelling of people to other countries. The breakout of SARS in 2003 was a very serious one and it took almost all the countries of the world and a total of 8,098 people were affected and out of these 774 people died. But now SARS have become totally under control but the virus still exists in the hosts which are animals and there are always chances that the virus can again return to the humans. The severity of SARS is greater in people of older age as compared to younger and middle aged people (Serradell, 2005). The symptoms of SARS are similar to that of common cold but those symptoms are much more severe as compared to those that of cold. SARS has no definite cure or medicine but it can be prevented by taking precautionary measures like avoiding communication with the patient, frequent hand washing, eating food rich in vitamin C, and other such measures. The epidemiological indicators of the SARS rife and the ways for the prevention, control, and complete eradication of SARS include gestation period, time period of communicability, mode of transference of the epidemic agent, risk factors involved in the transmission of the virus, environment, ways of reserving animals and the prevention of SARS (Stewart, 2004). The various countries in which the outbreak of SARS occurred specified the incubating period of an average of ten days, while the maximum incubation period included fourteen days and the minimum period was a single day. It is necessary that the person that the person is kept isolated during this period. Otherwise the disease can easily be passed on to the other person. It is observed through research that the maximum communicability of the virus is in the second week of the disease that is almost after 10 days. However the shedding of the virus starts in the stool from 3rd or the 4th day and the shedding process speeds up in 6-10 days and becomes maximum in the second week. Shedding of the virus in urine has been detected form the tenth day onwards. There are some clinical evidences from clinics in Hong Kong which show that the communicability of the virus starts from the 2nd day itself. The communicability decreases after the second week of the disease. It is of utmost importance that other people are not allowed to meet and communicate with the patient particularly from the 4th or the 5th day of illness. The most basic mode through which the virus can be transmitted to other people is through the mucus membrane which contains respiratory drops or through substance that can easily carry the virus from one person to the other. A normal person who is free from SARS can get contaminated with SARS virus if he remains in close contact with the SARS patient either physically or by using the patient’s personal possessions or by any other means. Using aerosols in the vicinity of the patient can also speed up the process of transmittance as the droplets of the spray can easily carry away the virus to other locations. The objects and things in use of the patient must be properly washed and sterilized before use by a person who is not infected. Body fluids from urine, faeces, and saliva also play a major role in transferring virus. Transmittance of the virus through food and water has not been detected. Spread of the SARS virus has also been found due to the contamination in the environment and through pests and animals (McLean & Royal Society (Great Britain, 2005). The occupation which became more vulnerable to the disease through transfer of the virus was nurses. Almost 35% of the nurses were affected and 16% of the doctors were also affected by the virus. It was found out that through household pets like dogs and cats SARS could easily be transferred. SARS can be prevented by isolating the patient from others. The most number of cases were reported in China with 5327 cases out of which 349 died of the disease. Hong Kong was the second most affected country with 1755 cases out of which 299 died due to the disease. Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam were also badly affected with SARS. Other countries like US, UK, Europe, Thailand, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Korea, Ireland, etc. were also affected but not very badly. SARS spread in other countries due to the travelling of the people in Asia and affected countries to other countries so a law was issued that the people from the countries affected with SARS were not allowed to travel to other parts of the world (Abraham, 2005). The following map clearly shows how the disease spread to other countries from the affected countries. This graph shows the population in different countries who were affected by SARS The outbreak of SARS in any community can be extremely dreadful as it can prove dangerously fatal for the community and can cause great number of deaths. Being a healthcare nurse it is utmost duty to provide my community with the proper care and safety from all sorts of disease and if any sort of epidemic disease is found then it is my responsibility to inform to the concerned authorities. Recently a family has just shifted to my community area and I suspect that they are SARS patients and my suspect turned into my belief when I came across several cases of SARS in my clinic. In order to prevent further spreading of this viral and fatal disease I have sent an application to the health ministry to provide an isolated place so that the SARS patients can be transferred to that place so that the virus of SARS cannot further spread to other people. Also the government should take the migrated people into custody and make investigation about their origins so that extra care can be taken of people who are coming from that country like giving them antiviral drops at the airport or reducing the number of flights from that country. It is very necessary that immediate action be taken otherwise the condition can worsen very much (United States, 2003). Air quality index is a scale that has been designed to understand the quality and nature of air and to decide whether the conditions are suitable for outdoor activities or are dangerous for health. Poor quality index means that index is of high value which means that the air can lead to severe health issues and such conditions can become havoc for patients suffering from respiratory issues. Air quality index can increase due to a number of factors. It mainly increases due to increased air pollution, stagnant air which may result due to anticyclone or temperature inversion. It is necessary that when the air quality index becomes poor the government should report a warning on national television and newspapers so that the people could be informed and they could take proper measures to prevent themselves from any sort of diseases (Ontario, 1997). Since the air quality index in my community has become poor it is very necessary that I introduce certain measures in order to protect the patients who are suffering from asthma or any other respiratory disease. I will make it compulsory for every patient to wear a mask so that the level of impurities and dirt in the air can be filtered and then inhaled by the people. A very effective method of cleaning the air is by planting more and more trees. I will request the government agencies to increase plantation in different areas of the community so that the air can be purified up to a great extent. NGO’s can also be contacted for plantation. The government must be requested to enforce certain amendments and laws that can help reduce air pollution like fining those cars or public transports that emit smoke. It must be made necessary that all cars, buses and other transport should install systems that will help reduce smoke emission from the exhaust. Advice will be given to the patients suffering from respiratory diseases that it would be better and safer for them to stay at their homes and avoid going out. The more they will spend time outside in the polluted air the more it will be hazardous for their health. The conditions of such patients can worsen to extreme and may even sometimes become the reason of the death of such patients. Therefore it is necessary that such patients take extra care during the period of poor air quality index. References Abraham, T. (2005). Twenty-first century plague: The story of SARS. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press. Serradell, J. (2005). SARS. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers. Stewart, G. B. (2004). SARS. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent Books. Ontario. (1997). Air quality index. Ontario: Ministry of the Environment. McLean, A., & Royal Society (Great Britain). (2005). SARS: A case study in emerging infections. Oxford: Oxford University Press. United States. (2003). Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS): Hearing before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, One Hundred Eighth Congress, first session, special hearing, May 2, 2003, Washington, DC. Washington: U.S. G.P.O. Read More