Epi 3

        Last class, we spent a good amount of time learning and discussing about Malaria.  While learning about Malaria in depth, I started realizing how many similarities it had with the West Nile Virus.  I found out that mosquitos were the vectors that spread both of these illnesses.  Also, they both have humans as their hosts what harbor the disease.  Another important part of the epidemiologic triad is the environment, where both of these illnesses thrive is tropical, still standing water where it is most convenient for the mosquitos to breed.  Lastly, I thought it was interesting how they also had similar symptoms.  The main difference is that with Malaria the symptoms are transparent, where as with the West Nile Virus most have mild to no symptoms at all making it difficult to identify.  With all of these similarities, the ways to prevent the diseases are also quite similar.  We can reduce the amount of mosquitos that carry the disease by removing standing water and wearing bug repellent.  

          The reason that this comparison came to mind when we were learning about it in class was because when my Nonna, grandmother, was in the Intensive Care Unit, the person in the room next to her was infected with an extreme case of the West Nile Virus.  I would hear the doctors discuss the man’s chances of living outside of our room.  They discussed how he got the disease from traveling abroad to Africa.  This sparked an interest for me to begin research into the virus.  Unfortunately, the man passed away after being in the Intensive Care Unit for about a month. 

Epi 2

For class, we had to watch a documentary on the Influenza Pandemic of 1918.  It was shocking to see how many people died from the disease and how quickly it was spreading.  In the video, it stated that Influenza killed more people than all of the wars in the past century.  I cannot imagine how it would feel to run out of supplies, such as caskets, because of the mass amount of people dying.  When watching this video, I learned that they started to develop several vaccinations around this time for diseases, such as rabies, small pox, anthrax, diphtheria, and meningitis.  It was surprising to find out that they were not able to even identify what disease this was with the mass amount of people dying.  For an example, when the soldiers in a camp get sick all with the same symptoms forty three of them ended up dying, but they ruled their cause of death as pneumonia.  The disease would disappear as fast as it came and affected people, which made it hard to identify the disease.  Camp Devon’s is another example of how quickly the disease would spread and how many people were being affected.  Since this form of Influenza had different symptoms than past experiences with the disease, it made it more difficult for the medical professionals to diagnose the disease.  With all of the advances in medicine that we have developed over the years, it is reassuring to know that we can control most diseases from developing into pandemics. 

Epidemiology Post 1

I think that epidemiology is going to be a difficult class for me personally.  There are so many components that have an influence on health and diseases in a certain population.  Another issue I heard about this class is the heavy workload that can be very intimidating, so I want to be able to stay on top of everything to be successful in this class.  Also, I am nervous about knowing what to say in the blog posts to successfully post what my professor is looking for.  Another point of interest I have in epidemiology is to look into what countries have the most diseases affecting its population and what we can do to eradicate these diseases.  Lastly, I hope that after taking this class I will have a better understanding of what epidemiology actually is. 

I plan to be an Occupational Therapist after my schooling, with my main focus to be on children.  I think it will be important to see how this class will affect me in the workforce.  I want to be able to identify what diseases are the most prevalent in the population that I will be working with.  Also, I want to be able to know how to identify these diseases and figure out how to provide the most affective therapy for the individual.  I would like to find out what diseases have cures and how affective these cures are.  On the other hand, I would like to look into if there is any diseases that effect specifically fine motor skills that would make me have to rethink how I could work with this individual to benefit them.  Finally, I think that this class will help me become a more prepared and successful healthcare professional.