Dengue

A debilitating viral disease of the tropics, transmitted by mosquitoes, and causing sudden fever and acute pains in the joints.

Causes

Dengue fever is caused by any one of four dengue viruses spread by mosquitoes that thrive in and near human lodgings. When a mosquito bites a person infected with a dengue virus, the virus enters the mosquito. When the infected mosquito then bites another person, the virus enters that person's bloodstream.

Sign and symptoms

Dengue Fever Symptoms and Signs. Primary symptoms of dengue appear three to 15 days after the mosquito bite and include high fever and severe headache, with severe pain behind the eyes that is apparent when trying to move the eyes. Other associated symptoms are joint pain, muscle and bone pain, rash, and mild bleeding.

Vaccination

There are a number of dengue vaccine candidates in different stages of development. The more advanced consist of tetravalent mixtures of live attenuated viruses representing each serotype. Different attenuation mechanisms have been used to develop three of the leading candidates:

Chimerization with yellow fever 17D vaccine strain, developed by Sanofi Pasteur

Combinations of defined mutations/deletions and chimeras, developed by NIH

Chimerization with dengue 2 PDK53 virus, attenuated by cell culture passage, developed by Inviragen/Takeda.

One disadvantage of all live attenuated vaccine candidates in clinical trials is that a single inoculation is not sufficient to induce protection to all 4 serotypes, probably due to viral interference among the live components of the vaccine.

Tumor

A swelling of a part of the body, generally without inflammation, caused by an abnormal growth of tissue, whether benign or malignant.

Causes

Cancer cells grow in this way as well; however, unlike the cells in benign tumors, they also invade nearby tissue. Out-of-control growth of abnormal cells causes damage to these adjacent tissues and organs, and can lead to cancerous tumors in other parts of the body.

Sign n symptoms

The following symptoms may also signal the presence of some types of cancer:

Persistent headaches.

Unexplained loss of weight or loss of appetite.

Chronic pain in bones or any other areas of the body.

Persistent fatigue, nausea, or vomiting.

Persistent low-grade fever, either constant or intermittent.

Repeated infection.

Vaccination

A cancer vaccine is a vaccine that treats existing cancer or prevents the development of cancer in certain high-risk individuals. Vaccines that treat existing cancer are known as therapeutic cancer vaccines. There are currently no vaccines able to prevent cancer in general.

Some types of cancer, such as cervical cancer and some liver cancers, are caused by viruses (known as oncoviruses), and traditional vaccines against those viruses, such as HPV vaccine and hepatitis B vaccine, will prevent those types of cancer. These anti-viral vaccines are not further discussed in the rest of this article. Other cancers are to some extent caused by bacterial infections and traditional vaccines against cancer-causing bacteria are also not discussed in this article.

Influenza

A highly contagious viral infection of the respiratory passages causing fever, severe aching, and catarrh, and often occurring in epidemics.

Causes

Causes of the flu. The flu is caused by influenza virus types A, B, and C. Both type A and type B flu viruses are responsible for the seasonal outbreaks of flu. Type A flu viruses are found in many different animals, including ducks, chickens, pigs, and horses. Influenza B viruses circulate widely only among humans.

Sign n symptoms

The flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have the flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:

Fever* or feeling feverish/chills.

Cough.

Sore throat.

Runny or stuffy nose.

Muscle or body aches.

Headaches.

Fatigue (tiredness)

Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.

Vaccination

The seasonal flu vaccine protects against the influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. Traditional flu vaccines (called trivalent vaccines) are made to protect against three flu viruses; an influenza A (H1N1) virus, an influenza A (H3N2) virus, and an influenza B virus.

Why get vaccinated

Influenza (the flu) can be a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. Anyone can get very sick from the flu, including people who are otherwise healthy.

You can get the flu from patients and coworkers who are sick with the flu.

If you get the flu, you can spread it to others even if you don’t feel sick.

By getting vaccinated, you help protect yourself, your family at home, and your patients.

Varicella

Technical term for chickenpox.

A herpes virus that causes chickenpox and shingles; herpes zoster.

Causes

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. You catch it by coming into contact with someone who is infected. Chickenpox is a very contagious infection. Around 90% of people who have not previously had chickenpox will become infected when they come into contact with the virus.

Sign and symptoms

The first symptoms of chickenpox include:

A fever of 100.4 °F (38 °C) to 103 °F (39.4 °C).

Feeling sick, tired, and sluggish.

Little or no appetite.

Headache and sore throat.

Side effect

Serious side effects are very rare. From 1998 to 2013, only one vaccine-related death was reported: an English child with pre-existent leukemia. In some occasions, severe reactions have been reported such as meningitis and pneumonia as well as anaphylaxis.

The possible mild side effects include redness, stiffness, and soreness at the injection site, as well as fever. A few people may develop a mild rash which usually appears around the shot's area.

However, this risk is less than the risk due to a natural infection resulting in chickenpox: 378 most of the cases reported have been mild and have not been associated with serious complications

Vaccinations

The Varicella Zoster vaccine is made from the Oka/Merck strain of live attenuated varicella virus. The virus was initially obtained from a child with natural varicella, introduced into human embryonic lung cell cultures, adapted to and propagated in embryonic guinea pig cell cultures, and finally propagated in human diploid cell cultures.

Intellectual disability

Intellectual disability (ID), once called mental retardation, is characterized by below-average intelligence or mental ability and a lack of skills necessary for day-to-day living. People with intellectual disabilities can learn new skills, but they learn them more slowly. There are varying degrees of intellectual disability, from mild to profound. Someone with intellectual disability has limitations in two areas.

 These areas are: Intellectual functioning. Also known as IQ.

Adaptive behaviors. Skills necessary for day-to-day life, such as being able to communicate or interact with others, and take care of oneself.

Causes

The most common causes of intellectual disability are:

Genetic conditions. These include things like Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome.

Problems during pregnancy. Things that can interfere with fetal brain development include alcohol or drug use, malnutrition or certain infections.

Problems during childbirth.

Illness or injury. Infections like meningitis, whooping cough and severe head injury, near-drowning or extreme malnutrition.

Sign and symptom

Rolling over, sitting up, crawling, or walking late

Slow to master things like potty training, dressing, and feeding himself or herself

Behavior problems such as explosive tantrums

Difficulty with problem-solving or logical thinking

In children with severe or profound intellectual disability, there may be other health problems as well.

Vaccination

Ataxia/Apraxia

Retardation

Meningitis Paralysis

Paralytic polio

Ms. Gullain Barre Syndrome

Lupus

Hyperactivity - ADD, LD

Auto-immune Diseases Epilepsy

Convulsions - Seizures

Blindness

Deafness

Mental confusion - lowered IQ

Brain tumors (SV-40)

This list was generated from a variety of resources and is not, by any means, all inclusive.

Malaria

Malaria is caused by a bite from a mosquito infected with parasites. That can infect people's red blood cells. The parasite is spread to people by the bites of infected mosquitoes.

Causes

A bite from a parasite-infected mosquito causes malaria. There are five species of Plasmodium (P.) parasites that infect people.

P. vivax and P. malariae occur all over the tropical regions of the world. P. ovale is found in western Africa, and P. knowlesi is found in Southeast Asia.

Infection with P. vivax, P. malariae, or P. ovale is usually not life-threatening, and a person may recover in a month without treatment. But infection with P. knowlesi may be fatal.

P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale, and P. knowlesi are generally not as drug-resistant as P. falciparum.

P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. knowlesi may stay in the liver, requiring further treatment with medicine to prevent relapses.

P. falciparum is found mostly in the tropics and subtropics (near the equator).

Symptoms

Fever.

Chills.

Headache.

Sweats.

Fatigue.

Nausea and vomiting.

Treatment

Whether the medicine is being used to prevent or to treat malaria.

Your condition (such as your age or whether you are pregnant).

How sick you are from malaria.

Geographic location where you were exposed to malaria.

Whether the malaria parasite may be resistant to certain medicines.

Side effects of the medicine.

Vaccination

Scientists are studying malaria vaccines to see whether the vaccines are effectively preventing malaria infection. But no vaccine has been approved to prevent malaria.1, 5 Work continues on improving vaccines for preventing malaria.