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Health Research Report

The environmental degradation of natural ecosystems has resulted in many negative outcomes, one of which is the outbreak of infectious disease. The clear majority of human infectious diseases, such as malaria, Zika, and HIV/Aids, originate in animals. When we disrupt the natural environment and habitat of animals, we are poking the beast, so to speak. So according to my research, the CDC should focus on the general audience to create awareness about the infectious diseases because these are most common forms of diseases that occur in day to day life.

Destroying the delicate balance of ecological conditions in forests increases contact between humans and potential reservoirs of disease in the animal population. Evidence shows that Ebola may have been spread to humans who came into contact with infected wildlife, enabled by widespread deforestation. The environment plays a critical role in serving as a buffer against infectious disease. A failure to recognize the value of this service that forests provide means that deforestation and infectious disease outbreaks are likely to continue at alarming rates.

Infectious disease is a systems problem that requires systems solutions. Treating only one part of the overall problem – whether by vaccination, quarantine or awareness campaigns – merely scratches the surface. Effective solutions must address the system as a whole, including changes to underlying ecosystems. The field of planetary health has emerged to better understand and solve the integrated relationship between human health and the environment. It aims to shed light on health problems induced by large-scale changes to the environment, and to highlight new ways of working to address these often-intractable

issues.

The connection between environmental change and human health is increasingly clear, but this big-picture view is not how we currently orient ourselves. Take existing public health solutions to Ebola, for example, which are to treat the disease, contain its spread, and prevent it by developing a vaccine. These are all necessary, but they miss a large set of tools found further upstream.

Follow these tips to decrease your risk of infecting yourself or others:

• Wash your hands. This is especially important before and after preparing food, before eating, and after using the toilet. And try not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth with your hands, as that's a common way germs enter the body.

• Get vaccinated. Immunization can drastically reduce your chances of contracting many diseases. Make sure to keep up to date on your recommended vaccinations, as well as your children's.

• Stay home when ill. Don't go to work if you are vomiting, have diarrhea or have a fever. Don't send your child to school if he or she has these signs and symptoms, either.

• Prepare food safely. Keep counters and other kitchen surfaces clean when preparing meals. Cook foods to the proper temperature using a food thermometer to check for doneness. For ground meats, that means at least 160 F (71 C); for poultry, 165 F (74 C); and for most other meat, at least 145 F (63 C). In addition, promptly refrigerate leftovers — don't let cooked foods remain at room temperature for extended periods of time.

• Practice safe sex. Always use condoms if you or your partner has a history of sexually transmitted infections or high-risk behavior.

• Don't share personal items. Use your own toothbrush, comb and razor. Avoid sharing drinking glasses or dining utensils.

• Travel wisely. If you're traveling out of the country, talk to your doctor about any special vaccinations — such as yellow fever, cholera, hepatitis A or B, or typhoid fever — you may need.

Societal, technological, and environmental factors continue to have a dramatic effect on infectious diseases worldwide, facilitating the emergence of new diseases and the reemergence of old ones, sometimes in drug-resistant forms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should target the general audience for its campaign because the issue cannot to be narrowed down to a set of people. Modern demographic and ecologic conditions that favor the spread of infectious diseases include rapid population growth; increasing poverty and urban migration; more frequent movement across international boundaries by tourists, workers, immigrants, and refugees; alterations in the habitats of animals and arthropods that transmit disease; increasing numbers of persons with impaired host defenses; and changes in the way that food is processed and distributed. Several recent health events underscore the need for a public health system ready to address whatever disease problems that might arise. Because no one knows what new diseases will emerge, the public health system must be prepared for the unexpected. For example, in 1997, an avian strain of influenza that had never before attacked humans began to kill previously healthy persons in Hong Kong (CDC, 1). This crisis raised the specter of an influenza pandemic similar to the one that killed 20 million persons in 1918. Also in 1997, strains of Staphylococcus aureus with diminished susceptibility to vancomycin were reported in Japan and the United States (CDC, 2). If drugs like vancomycin cannot be replaced as they lose their effectiveness -- or if the emergence and spread of drug resistance cannot be limited -- some diseases might become untreatable, as they were in the pre-antibiotic era. In addition, the recent discovery that a strain of the virus that causes HIV/AIDS has been infecting humans at least since 1959 (CDC, 3) illustrates how infectious agents can remain undetected for years before emerging as public health problems. Each of these incidents underscores the need for a public health infrastructure that is ready to address whatever disease problems that might arise.

Therefore, infectious diseases are very common and people are very prone to suffering from such diseases because of the ease with which they can be transferred. Hence there be proper advertisement and marketing regarding the effects and cure about these diseases and people should be made aware on how to prevent them. CDC can play a major role in getting to the audience in general and faster and at a large rate. Therefore, hey should focus on this.

References:

1. CDC. Isolation of avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses from humans, Hong Kong, May-December 1997. MMWR 1997;46:1204-7.

2. CDC. Staphylococcus aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin -- United States, 1997. MMWR 1997;46:765-6 {see also erratum in MMWR 1997;46:851}.

3. Zhu T, Korber B, Nahmias AJ, Hooper E, Sharp PM, Ho DD. An African HIV-1 sequence from 1959 and implications for the origin of the epidemic. Nature 1998;391:594-7.

4. American Kidney Fund (2017), retrieved from http://www.kidneyfund.org/kidney-disease/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd/#symptomsLinks to an external site. 

5. Caltabiano, M. L., & Ricciardelli, L. (2013). Applied topics in health psychology. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.