Whooping Cough Outbreak

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by sandy, Jan 26, 2008.

  1. sandy Banned Banned

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    The once nearly-eradicated whooping cough is back and at its highest levels since the 1950s.

    More than 25,000 cases of the infection were reported in the United States in 2004/2005, at least three times more than annual amounts reported in the 90s and at least six times more than in the '80s. I would guess current numbers are even higher.

    Texas Children's officials said they're unsure what accounts for the spike but speculation includes immigration. Gee, ya think?

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    "The take-home message from the current numbers is, we're seeing an epidemic."

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    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5484659.html
     
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  3. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    sandy are vacinations free? and ENCORAGED?

    or is this another example of the "invasion of my freedom" crap in the US???
     
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  5. sandy Banned Banned

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    Free at free clinics. Don't know if they're encouraged since the disease was almost wiped out until the past 10 years.
     
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  7. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    Then its the goverments fault not the imigrants. For christ sake, if you dont vacinate a population OF CORSE your going to have outbreaks
     
  8. sandy Banned Banned

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    Yeah, you're right. It's not the poor, innocent, criminal aliens fault for coming here illegally and spreading their diseases. That's why we have laws about legal immigration. We screen them to prevent disease.

    This new outbreak is no laughing matter. When Americans start dying in bigger numbers, maybe someone will do something about it.
     
  9. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    you mean like a goverment funded and surported vacination program?
    i hope your right
     
  10. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    OK sandy go ahead, push your "imigrants are the cause of disease" and i will show you TRUE epidemiology
     
  11. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

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    Sandy,
    I really think you should look at how the weather has been over in the US over the past year. In some places it's been floods, in other places droughts. The weather can influence us more than most people tend to acknowledge, sudden changes in weather conditions can bring about a number of ailments.

    One thing is that every immunity we have against various viruses is itself a 'defunct' version of that virus otherwise we wouldn't have the pattern to fight it. This means on the very rare occasion one of those defunct immunisation patterns can actually mutate back into the virus it once was, sometimes even a worse version of it's former self (For instance Drug resistant strains).

    Now I mention this because it means diseases can spring up at any time anywhere without being attributed to the passage of people.

    There is also the factor that the 'poor' in a country might not be able to afford healthcare (or seek healthcare because of it's cost), which in turn gives another group of people you could attribute to the spread of viruses.

    This doesn't of course mean the 'rich' are immune, if they go for particular session at a hospital to maintain their youth or looks, they are placing themselves into an environment of contagion, so the next time you going for some treatment you don't really need remember to take your Biohazard suit with you.
     
  12. Dr Lou Natic Unnecessary Surgeon Registered Senior Member

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    I'm glad it's back. Have you ever seen a kid with a whooping cough? It's hilarious.
    They're like honking seals.
     
  13. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    That's being just bit unfair, don't you think? It's been proven time and again that immigrants DO bring contagion with them sometimes as well as people who travel outside their country and then return.

    I'm sure not prepared to say the immigrants are the primary source but they certainly are a valid avenue - particularly when they come from a fairly impoverished nation, which Mexico is. Health care for the population there is really, really sad - public AND private - and the majority of people cannot even afford a doctor's services and rely on folk medicine instead. And the situation is even worse in some other countries.
     
  14. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    New foreign kid in my daughters class last week. Friday a note came home about an outbreak of head lice, courtesy of the new immigrant. My daughter was so mad at that kid "who doesn't even speak English!!! That Alex McGreggor is a jerk!" LOL
     
  15. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    read only, your right that they are a POSSABLE souce but so are people from canada, every person that flys into the US from Eroup, Asia ect. I dont know a hell of a lot about whoping cough so i will ask, does it only pass human to human or is it able to be carried by animals and insects as well?


    all of these questions make it compleatly irrelivant where it came from, an epidemologist might be able to trace the sorce of an out break but if there was UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE, and everyone was vacinated you would have a MUCH better chance of stoping these diseases


    Orleander its a myth that head lice live on dirty people you know, its generally the clean ones they like
     
  16. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    duh! I never said he was dirty. :shrug:
     
  17. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    sorry my mestake

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    I was making a very bad assumption and i humbly beg your forgiveness
     
  18. Tnerb Banned Banned

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    What an amazing thread *collapses*

    The fact that we are discussing the wooping cough, and none seem to have mentionend anything themselvs about having had one.
    At least I haven't.
    That damn thing near about slaughtered me durring school...
    LoL... If I had that thing today, my with my weak state, it would, horrificifiy me

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    ...

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    Who knows where it comes from?
    Who cares.
    We have it, let's irradicate it.
    What's the cause of it anyway?
    Who knows?
    Immigrants?
    ...That's a long shot, maybe, who knows?
     
  19. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, you are getting there but haven't quite arrived just yet.

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    It is direct human-to-human, there is no vector involved. The medical name of the disease is pertussis, in case you'd like to look it up in your books, and here's something else that you didn't know about the U.S. :every single child born here is required to have received their DTP (it's the "P" in DPT) vaccination (and show proof) prior to being first admitted to school. And that just serves to point out the obvious problem where immigrants might come into the picture because children are NOT required to show proof of vaccination in any of the grade levels beyond the first. Perhaps that will be changed - but I can assure you that groups who fight for the rights of illegal immigrants will oppose such a thing because it would expose the children who are here illegally.

    And yes, I clearly mentioned travelers the first time around. But the difference is that people who travel like that (as opposed to immigrants) usually are healthy because they can afford quite decent medical care nor do they live in less than sanitary conditions as many immigrants have recently had to do.

    And yet again, I carefully pointed out that I would NOT lay the entire blame on immigrants if you will recall.

    Incidentally, the vaccination is given in a long series: first at 2 months of age, then 4 months, then 6, then 12-18 months, and the final at 4 to 6 years - just PRIOR to starting school. And where would you place the odds that a child translocated from Mexico would have gone through that entire series?
     
  20. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Actually, it's not such a long shot at all, Brent. Read my post #16.
     
  21. Tnerb Banned Banned

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    Hah. Good. They can delete it.
    Less people to be strangled by the cough cough cough cough cough shit cough shit cough shit shit shit shit shit in school.
     
  22. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    i doubt my books would be much help on this one

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    I dont have one on pediatric illness and epidemology

    My point is that although there HAVE been outbreaks in australia with a properly funded hospital system and quinteen (for instance if you have lice you have to see a concil health worker to show that they are gone BEFORE you can return to school) disieases CAN be controled. But while health care EPECIALLY primary health care (ie preventive care) remains only for the ritch you are going to have a lot of trouble controling disease outbreaks. Yes case zero maybe anyone and come from anywhere (we have ALOT of problems here with diseases coming from china) if you can isolate that case and treat the patient then you can control the spread. Desease control (ie statistical wide spead health control, whos focus is on populations not patients) and clinical acute care (whos whole focus IS the patient) have alot to do with eachother. So does the social determinates of health, like housing. THIS is why social issues are political, because the long term solutions are political.

    Lets take a different disease for example (bactierial because the treatments are easier) manigiocoocle (please dont just dump that in google, i know its spelt wrong, but i have no idea HOW to spell it

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    ). If an out break of that happens here the first case will probably be a strecher case. IV penicillan in the ambulance then further treatment at hospital. Now if we leave it there then we have a rapedly spreading problem even if you just take the ambos. So the next step is the health department. hospital rings the health department and all the patients near the carrier are given pencillian, so are the hospital staff. Next the ambo's who atended will be called in by radio and be given antibotics and will be required to give a list of EVERY patient they came in contact with who are all then tracked down and given antibotics. At the same time the health department will be tracking the sorce of infection and treating everyone along the way.

    This can only be effective if health care is redially avialable so that the first case is treated early and if the health department is ready to go with this sort of investigation.

    The next thing wrong with sandy's assumptions have to do with socio-economics. If a person is fit, healthy, mentally and socially healthy, well nurised ect then there imune system is MUCH more effective at protecting them from contracting a disease in the first place (this is where health becomes a whole of goverment problem). If a person is homeless, poorly feed, suffering concurent illnesses ect then they are MUCH more likly to a) contract the diease and b) have a harder time fighting it off. So if insted of treating immigrants as criminals you provide these services for the WHOLE community then the WHOLE community benifits by less illness, less time off work, higher productivity ect
     
  23. Reiku Banned Banned

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    I'm dying of a cough right now... feel sorry for me. I demand it.
     

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