Re: a little perspective WITH BIG CONSEQUENCES
The people on this board amaze me to no end. Do you also dispense legal advice; civil engineering advice, astro-physics advice and advice in other areas that obviously the majority is not qualified to dispense? And when you are making seemingly innocuous statements such as ?oh, I would not worry about it (Malaria) (Schistosomiasis) etc. ? you are in fact dispensing medical advice, especially if the individual respects your opinion and follows it. When I want advice on legal matters, I go to a lawyer, when I want advice how to build a house, I go to an engineer/architect, WHEN I WANT MEDICAL ADVICE, I GO TO A PHYSICIAN. And now that I am on my soapbox?.here goes: First let me say, the old aphorism ?an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? is just as valid today as my grandmother?s time. However, for some reason, known only to God, governments and the population in general do not ascribe to PREVENTIVE MEDICINE. They would rather risk becoming ill and then try to cure it rather than prevent it! This is why laws had to be passes in the USA to force families to inoculate their children against diseases that could be prevented.
NOW, AS THE EXPERTS SAY, LETS PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE: HEPATITIS A: Fatalities are rare but do occur. Recovery can take up to three months. There is no specific treatment. It can be prevented by immunization. HEPATITIS B: 10% to 15% fatality rate. No cure and recovery is prolonged. Cirrhosis usually develops and is the terminal phase. It can be prevented by immunizations. RABIES: Rabies immunization is ONLY recommended when that is a possibility of being infected with rabies (i.e. bites from infected mammals). TO PUT THIS IN REAL PERSPECTIVE, THERE HAS ONLY BEEN FOUR DOCUMENTED CASES OF SURVIVAL OF RABIES (ONCE DIAGNOSED) IN THE ENTIRE MEDICAL WORLD LITERATURE THAT DID NOT RECEIVE THE NECESSARY PROPHYLAXIS. TYPHOID: With proper treatment fatality rate is 1%; without treatment 12%. Recovery is prolonged, 4 to 12 weeks. It can be prevented with immunization. TETANUS: World MORTALITY rate of 50%. Survival is possible but return to normal living is not without serious neurological complications. Recovery phase can be 6 months to a year or more requiring artificial ventilation and the complications associated with that. Easily prevented by immunization and periodic booster. DIPHTHERIA: discussed before but untreated has a high mortality rate of 70+%. Complications of life long myocarditis in those that survive and develop the problem. Preventable with immunization. MEASLES: Normally a relatively benign course but the complications are disastrous with the development of encephalitis in 1:1000 cases leading to convulsions and coma and death. Also the subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a chronic brain disease not uncommon in children and adolescents and occurs months to years after infection with measles. This leads to intellectual deterioration, convulsions and seizures and severe motor dysfunction and is universally fatal. Preventable with immunization. MALARIA: well, we have covered this previously ( a protozoan infection characterized by paroxysms of chills, fever, and sweating and by anemia, splenomegaly and A CHRONIC RELAPSING COURSE, and while there is no immunization (experimental) there is chemoprophylaxis for endemic areas. There is NO cure for malaria. At best it is suppressed. And suppression may last for years or decades. (If you think there is a cure, try donating blood with a history of hepatitis or malaria!) Malaria can be life threatening with pre existing illnesses. And, dreaded Blackwater fever is a serious complication. There are other complications (cerebral manifestations) but this is not a course in medicine.
The advice to cook, boil or peel has relatively self explanatory reasons I think.
Ice cubes and ice in drinks are dangerous unless you KNOW the ice is not made with contaminated water on under unsanitary conditions. People won?t drink unsanitary water but forget ice is made from water!
Going barefoot: reason, to prevent HOOKWORK DISEASE common in the tropics and areas of poor sanitation (rare in the USA) but about 25% of world population is infected. The larvae of the hookworm penetrates human skin, reaches the lung via the lymphatics and blood, ascend the respiratory tract, are swallowed, and about a week after skin penetration reach the intestine where they attach by their mouths to the mucosal of the upper small intestine and suck blood rendering the patient anemic over time. Medication for treatment is toxic and recovery is 4 to 12 weeks and anemia must also be treated. Relatively easy to avoid by NOT going barefoot! Eating food sold by street vendors: Sanitation with street vendors is non existent for the most part. Have you ever seen one wash his hands? Wearing protective clothing at night: for protection against mosquitoes. Simple. NOT swimming in fresh water: To prevent SCHISTOSOMIASIS (endemic in most of South America and the Caribbean islands). Freshwater snails are the intermediate host. Target organ in the human is the liver, urinary bladder where complications cause a liver fibrosis and ultimate liver failure and the urinary bladder is subject to cancer changes of the mucosa. Prophylaxis is difficult, use molluscacides and avoidance of infected water (which is easiest!)
NOW, DO YOU FEEL THIS IS THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE? Now that you know the other side of the coin; now that you know the consequences of ACQUIRING the disease as opposed to IMMUNIZING against it, one can see the reasons for the CDC recommendations. They are not being overly cautious, they KNOW the ultimate consequences. You don?t just ?pop? a pill and you are well. Prevention is far better than treatment especially when most of these diseases have a potential for a fatal outcome. I wonder how many people who are bitten by a ?potentially? rabid dog or bat (that was not recovered for laboratory analyisis) would forego the painful rabies injections for 2 weeks and risk untreatable rabies? CDC and similar European counterparts and physicians ONLY RECOMMEND AND ADVISE. And with the advice of their physician, the patient makes the ultimate choice of their medical course. Unfortunately, it is impossible to force ?good health? upon people. Good health for the most part is a choice. Final question: how many of those ?dispensing advice? have seen patients DIE from the consequences and complications of these diseases? I have! Sorry this took so long! ECH
