Three Infectious Diseases essays

Three Infectious Diseases essays In the beginning diseases were thought to be a kind of punishment from God, rather than an infection caused by a foreign body. Later this was found to be untrue, and we now have an entire field of science devoted to the study of these diseases, the foreign bodies that cause them, and treatments for the diseases. I am prepared to compare 3 infectious diseases. The first disease is AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.. This disease breaks down the immune system and makes it vulnerable to opportunistic diseases. AIDS is caused by HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus attacks white blood cells, and makes the immune system work for the virus rather than the body, and because our immune is so wonderful and strong, it is impossible to beat it, and consequently we cannot beat the virus. Ways that people receive this virus are very clear, through the exchange of body fluids (blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk) . Although saliva does carry some of the virus, it is not enough to infect a person. So, things such as kissing and sharing drinks are safe from transmission of this virus. There is no cure for AIDS or HIV. There are however, symptomatic treatments do exist. These treatments can prolong the life of a patient. Symptoms include: fever, chills, night sweats, skin rashes, headaches, malaise, swollen lymph nodes, a nd general discomfort. Flu-like symptoms occur several months after infection. This epidemic is a current one, which began in the mid- 70s, and has effect virtually everyone from the lower class to upper class white senators. The epidemic appears to be world spread beginning in Africa, spreading to South and North America, then moving on to Europe, and finally spreading to Asia and parts of Australia. Although the number still grows, as of today, 18.8 million people have died from this epidemic. In the 1300's the epidemic we call ABlack Death@, Bubonic Plague, began in China. By 1347, it had spre...