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8 Diseases Scarier Than Swine Flu
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While Americans are losing sleep over the H1N1 virus, researchers are studying other infectious threats. From drug-resistant TB to parasitic worms, Barbara Kantrowitz reports on eight diseases to watch—and worry about.
Swine flu may be hogging the headlines, but H1N1 is far from the only disease worrying researchers. The worldwide spread of HIV in the early 1980s marked the dawn of what many scientists believe is the age of pandemics, when diseases emerge from remote areas and strike people everywhere.
Blame the destruction of rainforests, the ubiquity of international travel and inadequate public health services in developing countries. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that what happens in the jungle no longer stays in the jungle. “In 1918, it took three years for the flu virus to get around the world,” says Dr. Parviez Hosseini, a senior research fellow with the Wildlife Trust, “but H1N1 traveled through vast parts of the world in just three months.”
“In 1918, it took three years for the flu virus to get around the world, but H1N1 traveled through vast parts of the world in just three months.”
Researchers studying the origins of HIV now believe that a form of the virus first infected humans in the 1930s. That means there are diseases out there now that could infect millions in the decades to come. But what are they? And which are the most dangerous? The greatest future threat could be a virus that researchers haven’t yet identified. “It’s a lot like predicting hurricanes and cyclones,” Hosseini says. “We know there’s a general phenomenon, but we can’t necessarily predict that there will be a disease of a particular severity next February.”
The majority of emerging infectious diseases originated in animals; they’re called zoonoses. Others threats come from forms of long-recognized illnesses that have become resistant to drugs. Here’s a sampling of what scientists around the world are watching:
1. Avian Influenza A (H5N1). In birds, this virus is highly contagious and can be deadly, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In general, bird flu does not cross over to humans. But of those few strains that have made the leap, H5N1 has infected the most people; more than half of those infected have died. As of last month, the World Health Organization reported 442 cases worldwide since 2003 and 262 deaths. The victims are usually children or young adults who have had direct or close contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces. Scientists worry that H5N1 may someday change in a way that will allow it to spread more easily and start a pandemic.
2. Chikungunya. A mosquito-borne disease, this virus has been blamed for many epidemics in Africa and Asia since it was first isolated in Tanzania in 1953. More recently, it has been found in Europe. Although fatalities are rare, the disease is debilitating, with patients suffering from fever, headaches, vomiting, rashes, and muscle and joint pain.
3. Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF). Another mosquito-borne infection, dengue is found primarily in urban and rural tropical and subtropical regions. The World Health Organization estimates that close to 40 percent of the world’s population lives in areas at risk for dengue, with about 50 million annual cases. DHF is a potentially fatal complication of dengue that was first recognized about 60 years ago. It’s the leading cause of hospitalization and death for children in dengue-prone areas. Four different but related viruses cause dengue. People who recover from one virus are immune to it, but may still be vulnerable to others. More than one dengue infection appears to increase the risk of DHF.
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You can add to those every bacterial infection there is if we keep up the idiotic practice of giving tons of antibiotics to farm animals. If we stopped the practice, farmers would be forced to use drastic measures like cleaning chicken cages and feeding ruminants the grass they can actually digest instead of the corn that makes them sick. Of course pharmaceutical companies might not like it if we restricted the use of the drugs which are our only defense against bacterial disease to medical use.
Veritas
word
I agree. It should be illegal to use antibiotics on animals who are not even sick. It only tends to make the antibiotic less effective on the germ it is intended to eliminate. Hygiene, correct diet, and sufficient exercise is natures method of preventing or limiting bacterial/viral infections in both animals and humans. But, until the governments of the world stand up against mega-agriculture and its money, quick profit rather than protection of ecosystems will be the driving force behind decisions of the market.
Exactly. And also all these stupid antibiotics like Triclosan we pump into our environment in handsoaps, etc. They kill weaker bacteria & help breed stronger ones. Duh.
If you notice, 6 of these 8 diseases are VIRAL meaning from viruses. Which means they are not treated or provided preventative measures from through the use of antibiotics in people or animals. Of the two that are left, one is a parasite, also not treated with antibiotics. The only bacterial infection listed it XDR TB, which is not a zoonotic disease. Hence you have made a rather idiotic error in blaming production agriculture for any of the above.
If you had actually read the comment, you would have noticed that the commenter wrote "You can add to those..." In other words, the comment was directed at maladies OTHER THAN those detailed in the article rather than attempting to place blame for the diseases actually listed. It seems rather idiotic to call someone "idiotic" if you fail to even take the time to read their comment. You've accused the commenter of an "idiotic error" for doing something ("blaming production agriculture" for the diseases listed in the article) she did not in fact do. Now apologize.
Sooo true! When is someone gonna write an article about that!
AMEN. The real problem with our medical system isn't as much the insurance companies, as it is the pharmaceutical companies. They sold their souls a long time ago and have no problem killing people...until they get caught.
This also an effect of global warming. The mosquito that carries dengue fever has extended it range to Maryland where I live and now we have a few cases every year.
Interesting that you are still using the term Global "Warming". Even the scientists who live off the grants being given out to "prove" global warming have been forced by the facts to change their term to "Global Climate Change" since the past couple of years have been getting colder and colder.
I am NOT in favor of unbridled pollution of our environment, but I AM in favor of TRUTH. If we could somehow take out the potential for large sums of money being made by Al Gore, et al; and eliminate the threat of the USA being extorted into paying "Third World" nations a "Carbon Tax", then I seriously believe that "Global Warming" would take its place on the shelf with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Completely wrong. "[T]he past couple of years have" NOT "been getting colder and colder." See http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2008/. Yes, according to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, "Calendar year 2008 was the coolest year since 2000." Wow, all the way back to 2000. But they also say "...2008 is the ninth warmest year in the period of instrumental measurements, which extends back to 1880." Are you shivering yet? Furthermore, 2007 was the hottest year on record. Find your own cite. Also "The ten warmest years all occur within the 12-year period 1997-2008." You sound so reasonable: If only Al Gore weren't lying for money. If only the "Third World" were not attempting to extort us. But you've failed to do even the most basic research. The reason scientists refined their terminology and began using "climate change" in place of "global warming" is that the former is meant to encompass a much broader idea of the changes that are occurring rather than the latter which is simplistic and implies that the whole issue is that "it's getting hotter and hotter every year." It is getting hotter but that's not the whole picture. But it sure as hell is not getting "colder and colder" every year as you claim.
Scary stuff!!
Boosting the immune systems is better than trying to fight every individual disease. Exercise, Yoga, Qigong, and Reiki Energy Healing are free and proven to work. Clean air and water are better investments than vaccines. Better food including ending unnecessary meat cultivation which essentially is a fermentation process cooking these diseases.
Exercise, yoga, and reiki certainly won't hurt and they may even make you healthier. But they won't protect you from measles encephalitis, pneumococcal pneumonia, or meningitis. Vaccines are life-saving
And aids or herpes isnt on here why?
Everyone knows that zombies are the real threat. A close second is caritis. Caritis is a disease of the bones and soft tissue that is contracted by coming in contact with a rapidly moving vehicle. Caritis killed over 16000 people last year in the U.S. and I didn't see a single CNN special report on it. I guess being pancaked by a Taurus just isn't as sexy as pretending there's a kid on a runaway inflatable flying saucer.
pinko - you are wrong.
Caritis isn't communicable -
except in the cases where
someone gets hit by a car,
then in a daze gets INTO a car
and hits someone else -
possibly while trying to reach
the hospital to get his arm
sewn back on.
And then they tell me my insurance
won't cover it because it's a
pre-existing condition...
like,
how long do you think i've
been driving around without
an arm!?
And now I've got medical bills
AND lawyer bills because it
wasn't even my car and that
guy I hit was a mailman -
apparently they have more rights
than drunken citizens.
Oh, but africanized Caritis
(Getting hit by an african
research monkey or other
primate from africa) is extremely
virulent...
Anyway,
I also noticed two important diseases
other than zombification:
1) vampire glorification
(extremely virulent these
days unfortunately)
2) CANCER. (I hear you can get
cancer just from smoking africanized
cigarrettes now, so I stick to American
brands and also cigars. When will we
cure this awful virus!?)
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Obama worshipitus is a rapidly spreading and fatal disease, especially for anyone who needs medical care under a government system.
AMEN!!! I'm guessing the symptoms are selective blindness, deterioration of moral values, rationalization, chronic entitlement, delusional reasoning, irrational arguments, foaming at the mouth and periodic chants regarding change.
So there better off with no health care other that emergency treatment of a life threatening condition? I hope you have torn up your Medicare card as a protest against a "government system."
Tell your health insurer about your preference for carrion. That should end it immediately.
Ebola is scarier because it has such a high mortality rate, but it is not a great threat because it kills before it spreads.
No mention of Hep. C?? In Africa its called death by bleeding. Its all over the U.S.
There's a website that says the swine flu was diliberately spread . There's so much on this website, I wonder if it true. It statrs with an S.
The worst disease of all is Animal Hoarding. It's one hundred percent terminal.
Big disease: Conspiracyitis! Attackers hide in bugs, cans, garabe, corn, cows, water, looming dragons search to eat unsuspecting humans. Symptoms: depression leading to revolution, civil war. Cancer like disease, spreads from town to town. Anger errupts as freedom of speech is silenced. Obama Solution: Let's talk this over. Relgious Zealots: Let's fight it out! Pacifist's: Sit back watch the enemy kill the enemy! Get out the snacks! Keep track of whose doing in who with what where. Do not run! Let the heartrate outpace the runners! Stay safe! Don't move. Don't get in the game! There is no right or wrong just war....fight....fight....fight!
There is no justice....so be happy with the problems you see in your house, and outside your window. The Cure: Don't catch it! Stay clear of taking sides. Be a coach potato rather than be hoodwinked into controversy! Hang on to your core...values...be kind to your neighbor...he may have extra zuccini come summer! Let the coins be "without labels that say, "In God we Trust." God can't help us now, we're on our own! It's everyman for himself....pick your disease...pick your own controversy...than fight like mad...we''re watching to see WHO wins! My conspiracy is better than your conspiracy! Let's FIGHT ABOUT IT! BUGS? which size?
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