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Last updated: Wednesday, June 11, 2008
It seems that the new species superkieme busy to conquer people get. Are we strong enough medicine to these dangerous kalante the Doodskoot give?
By dr. Greg Calligaro
Imagine the following: Open bare places are deserted, empty trains travel in and out at the stations and the few passengers who still dare to use public transport, wantrouig lurk behind their gasmasks out.
On the lookout airports sekuriteitsmense incoming passengers with hittegevoelige beeldkameras that those who may have been infected, it's a fever in a remarkable infrared glow.
In the suburbs has suspects under quarantine, folders and branded video cameras with electronic wrist tags to monitor every movement. If a stranger coughing or snuff, there is panic - death is in the air.
It sounds like an alarmist vision of a wetenskapsfi ksie-movie, but it was real scenarios in Asian cities like Bangkok and Singapore during the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome-) epidemic. This virus was late 2002 in Guangdong province in China outstretched head, but worldwide panic when it was more than 8 000 people lit and 774 deaths from Asia to North America caused.
The world has in many ways, it came down slightly: The disease has disappeared without a global pandemic is. Thanks to quick action was the outbreak hokslaan physicians.
Experts say the next time a deadly germ strike, we may not be so happy - they warn that the conditions for the emergence and spread of such a germ nowadays are ideal. "A virus can only survive a 24-hour flight away from any city on earth," writes Richard Preston in his bestseller Th e Hot Zone.
"When it hit lugdiensnetwerk, it can be within a day anywhere in the world to reach - Paris, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles. Everywhere where there are planes. "With international stralerverkeer can people with such a disease has infected their unwanted" passengers "to distant countries or to their families at home Saamdra even before the first symptoms heads protruding.
It's not just the doeltreff ende inter national transport that the circumstances made it ripe for a worldwide epidemic, not.
Several other human activities, like the appearance and wide - spread of new diseases resulted. The destruction of the rainforests and human infringement on natural leefwêrelde, associated with the development of new towns and housing in rural areas, leading to contact between people and animals and their unknown microbes.
Changes in agriculture, such as the introduction of new crops, in turn, attract new Agricultural what farming communities exposed to unknown diseases.
And the rapid growth of cities in many developing countries, causing large numbers of people in overcrowded areas with poor sanitation contract. In such circumstances, these four infectious diseases hoogty.
Deadly germs at large
The threat of a new world wide disease has recently appeared on the horizon. H5N1 flu, commonly known as bird flu, is a subtipe of Infl uenza A virus that infected birds but also disease among humans can cause.
It comes in nature under very voëlbevolkings in Southeast Asia, but is working to spread worldwide and has already gathered tens of millions of birds.
It has also led to the inevitable thinning of even hundreds of millions of birds, domestic poultry inkluis to the spread of the virus encounters.
So far it is only people who have handled sick birds that are inflamed, but if the virus mutate or a membership form that easily from man to man can be transferred, we can use a global emergency camps to have.
In 2003, the world-renowned virologist Robert Webster in a written report, the world stands on the brink of a pandemic that affects a large part of the human can destroy.
He did not geoorreageer not - it is estimated that the outbreak of the far - nietigende Spanish Flu of 1918 and 1919 between 25 and 50 million people killed.
And only in November last year the deadliest germ to mankind is known, the Ebola virus, again from his home in the unknown forests of Central Africa in Uganda emerged, and nine out of every ten people that are more contaminated, killed.
It's a painful death and means that the virus within a few days, the internal organs of the body show resolve and cause bleeding everywhere - and there is not no cure.
How is it possible that we still so vulnerable to infectious diseases, while there are sophisticated antibiotics available, and a man of antiviral breakthroughs continually hear?
Not too long ago, physicians thought they had infectious diseases forever prevented.
Smallpox is eradicated, there is doeltreff ende immunizations against polio and yellow fever developed, and with the discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics were suddenly treated for such diseases as primordial SIFI lis, leprosy and even Builepes from biblical days.
Diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough and pinch-in-diekaak was apparently something of the past.
Scientists had believed it was only a matter of time before we fi trails would be free from the dark times when microscopic invaders from an invisible world, our existence was threatened.
Louis Pasteur, one of the fathers of microbiology and inventor of the vaccine against another dreaded virus, rabies, have boasted that every infectious disease someday just as easily could be overcome.
Nobody believes it anymore today. Despite the arsenal of medicines available to the modern science in the war against deadly diseases have, is always fatal infections for all over the world are a threat.
Scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already warned that we are entering a period where the spectrum of infectious diseases is busy expanding - and that many infectious diseases were seemingly under control, is busy increasing.
There is scarcely a week passes without a report in the media and scientific press about any outbreak appears:
The plague in India, "vleesetende" Streptococcus in Britain resistant Staphylococcus in American hospitals or difficult behandelbare wondbesmettings among soldiers returning from Iraq.
At the tuisfront we hear of diarrhea epidemics in Delmas in Mpumalanga, and an outbreak of a resistant bacterial infection in an intensive care unit for newborn babies in KwaZulu-Natal.
We also have our own version of Ebola:
A virus with the name hemoragiese Crimean Congo fever, which is transmitted by ticks, sporadic and unexpected to emerge and people, mainly farm workers in rural areas to kill.
We ran skietgoed Even the old deadly germs, those we thought we had beaten had been taught to us wondermedisynes to adjust. It should not really be no surprise - bacteria is at the end of the most successful organisms on the planet.
They have learned over millions of years to get to every possible ecological variation to adapt to hot SWA welfonteine to the bottom of the sea. Net human conceit, we believe we can make them within fifty years, our collection of chemical weapons to erase.
"Unfortunately, bacteria are smarter than people," said the American dr. Harold Neu of Columbia University in the journal Science. "To begin with, we are hopelessly in derheid min. Even in our own body, there are ten times more bacteria that the skin and spysverteringskanale colonize, as cells. "
The key to their ability to create a resistance to antibiotics, to build, is the fact that they can learn to mutate their genetic structure of change.
In someone with an active infection, each individual bacterium to replicate every twenty minutes. With each division are developed spontaneous mutations in their DNA. While most of the blind herskommelings properties developed either useless or verswakkend is happening there and then every wan something that a bacterium spesifi eke a oorlewingsvoordeel show - like the ability to medicines out of their cells to pump or to produce enzymes that destroyed.
Streptococcus pneumoniae, the bacterium that usually causes pneumonia and meningitis, is nowadays frequently penicillin-resistant.
And the dreaded Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), one of the so superhospitaalkieme, is becoming increasingly resistant to treatment should be.
an even more alarming fact is that these resistant bacteria are already healthy people outside our hospitaalsale attack. The cavalier, excessive use of antibiotics and the fact that Oorywerige doctors prescribe them too easily, contributing to a large extent the blame for this.
According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association appeared, it was found that half of patients with an ordinary cold antibiotics received, although only doeltreff end against bacteria and a cold by a virus caused .
Human behavior only makes things worse. Patients often do not take their antibiotics regularly, or hold on to take when their symptoms improve before the infection has completely cleared.
If there is not enough of a spesifi eke medications administered, there are soon more of the tougher and stronger bacteria than their frail peers, the development of resistant mutations encouraging.
Stroop our arsenal?
In a recent breakthrough by scientists from the flu antiviral drugs Relenza and Tamifl you created - the first doeltreff ende treatment against the virus. Because these drugs work against bird flu, for example, America has huge quantities of this for a possible pandemic is stored.
Unfortunately it seems as though the griepvirusse engaged to a resistance against it to build. If a true pandemic strike, we may no longer vuurkrag in our arsenal oorhê not.
Antibiotics are also continually manipulated by the agricultural sector: farmers add them to perform in order to encourage growth and prevent diseases. Resistant organisms can then from animals or animal products to people transferred.
Tuberculosis has also been learned that the scientists uitoorlê. TB is an extremely difficult and slow-growing bacteria and is usually treated with a combination of four drugs together for six months use.
If patient's treatment is inadequate - either because they do not take prescribed drugs correctly is not, either because laegehalte medications used - can be called multimiddel-resistant TB (MDR-TB) arise.
Although not aansteekliker than normal TB is not, is an important consideration since the gesondheidskwessie longer duration and more expensive medications.
Expanded middelweerstandige TB (XDR-TB), which is also an opposition party that has built more expensive drugs, recently in South Africa made its first appearance. Our treatment is out to touch.
In South Africa TB has of course an even more lethal krygskameraad: the human immune gebreksvirus (HIV) that causes Aids. So have a primordial bacterium and a relatively new virus an evil alliance was formed.
Nearly half of all patients in whom TB nowadays gediag noseer are also carriers of the HIV virus.
Public enemy number one HIV / AIDS is certainly the biggest emergency of our generation that infectious diseases are concerned. It was discovered in 1981 and according to an estimate by the WHO, the HIV virus more than 25 million people killed, most in Africa south of Sahara.
This is one of the most destructive in history Pandemics and especially a derduiwel because his slagoff ers (other than in the case of Ebola, which people can kill within hours) a few years fairly healthy.
That means there is ample opportunity that they can transfer to others.
Until now all attempts to prevent the spread of HIV cage to save a doeltreff ende vaccine failed to develop.
Therefore, the proteins that the virus is surrounded variable and its ability to mutate to be successful.
HIV fascinate experts in the field of infectious diseases, mainly because they attack the bastion which usually all the microscopic veneno, ho morto disallowed:
our immune system. HIV infection and make the battalions of specialized white blood cells died and so weaken the immune system of infected patients until they become susceptible to any possible attack.
The result?
A myriad opportunistic microbes that are usually fueled by a healthy immune system weggevee would be overrun verdedigingstelsel the body and cause disease.
Ready and on stand?
Rather than the situation to try to save, it seems that the pharmaceutical industry's ideas on the opraak is. Some of the largest companies (Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Eli Lilly, Roche and Bayer, more recently) have their research on new antibiotic drugs in favor of more lucrative options abandon. Since 2000, only seven new antibiotic clinical trials passed, compared with thirty in the last decade.
After the false bravado of the last century we have now new respect for those germs, especially since it currently looks like they are doing to fight to win.
The news was not the only bad. Although antiretroviral drugs are not cures, have a revolution in the treatment of patients with AIDS caused. This enables them to regain their immunity and practically a normal life.
The search for new forms of treatment continues, with help from a couple of unexpected levels. In 2006, after 250 000 natural extracts examined, scientists from Merck Pharmaceuticals published details of a new antibiotic from a soil sample in South Africa was obtained.
It is called platensimisien and makes many kinds of bacteria death inkluis MRSA. If it passes clinical trials, it will only be the third brand new class of antibiotics were the last four decades have been developed.
And in the forests of northern Europe, researchers have found a small black sampioentjie found that the first of a possible new class of antibiotics and antiretroviral drugs can be.
It is called defensiene - a type of protein which is active against bacteria and viruses are coated. In some areas of modern science was never so well fitted to the threat of new diseases to cope, with improved laboratory techniques which enable us to treat diseases much earlier on track.
Drs. Joe Jarvis, a local expert in the field of infectious diseases that do research on a type of fungal meningitis, which affect AIDS patients, but says the following:
"To prevent a future where germs tegemoetgaan again sow death and destruction, will require more than just new wondermiddels."
Antibiotics will be worldwide in health and agriculture should be used wisely. Of course, better techniques regarding the development of new drugs is also a requirement.
Health authorities should focus on a gereedheidsgrondslag continue to control outbreaks of epidemics before they degenerate.
In developing countries where cholera and dysentery by war, poverty, oorbevol-king and poor sanitation cause, is the provision of clean water and access to basic health care are of paramount importance.
Our best defense on a personal level, there is much we can do to us to defend against the germs that we come in contact.
The use of condoms and safer sexual behavior - strategies that the collaboration of individuals depend, not scientists or doctors do not - remains our greatest stalwarts in the fight against HIV / AIDS.
Simple measures like washing your hands were in the nineteenth century, first proposed, it is equally important to prevent the spread of infection in hospitals to prevent it.
To ensure that children receive all their immunizations, remains one of the best ways for them against potentially deadly viruses such as measles and polio protection.
There is not necessarily a pill for every skeet, so this is a good idea to investigate alternative strategies. If you have a cold, you can eat costs sharply - chillies contain a ontstuwingsmiddel natural.
Eat cabbage as a maagseer - the sap of which contain a medium with the name sulforafaan that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is 90 percent of all ulcers caused deaths. And you can suck sinktablette for a sore throat - by giving zinc studies the body's immunity a boost.
Your mother was right. Much of the advice that doctors against everyday household germs, you're basically normal, old-fashioned hygiene: Wash your fruits and vegetables, scrub your snyplank after cutting raw meat on it, and use a bleach - which, despite all the wonderful drugs on the shelves is an excellent detergent for almost everything remains.
But germs are everywhere around us. It does not matter how hard we try, we will never fully succeed in preventing disease is not. Our best strategy to fight the disease, our immune system is ready and on stand to take.
Stress, cigarette smoking, poor diet and a lack of sleep weakens the immune system and makes us susceptible to infection, or make it harder for us to post a disease to recover.
It is better to withdraw from the outset a few precautions and make sure you are healthy, if every time a doctor to run. Prudential aftercare always occur!
How a global flu pandemic could exceed
If the H5N1 voëlgriepvirus mutate easily from human to humans (as evidenced by events in Indonesia) so that it becomes as deadly as the 1918 influenza, can lead to the following scenario leads:
THE 1918 FLU-TODAY
Year 1918 2008
1.8 billion people globally 6.5 billion
Main troopships vehicles, trains, aircraft
Time it takes for the virus to all corners of the planet to reach four months Four days
Preventative and protective masks and antiseptic drugs Flu vaccinations
Treatment Bed rest, aspirin Antiviral drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza
Estimated deaths 25 to 50 million, 100 million as the tough new virus antiviral drugs and not as effective as scientists hope
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