Fever | OHPA

Introduction

Fever is a symptom, not a disease. In recent years, research has documented that many human host defense mechanisms are helped by fever, and that fever even enhances the action of antibiotics.

Most fevers are due to viral illnesses with the onset of fever indicating the start of an infection, and the disappearance of fever often marking the end of an illness. Most fevers associated with viral illnesses range from 101 to 104 and last for several days. In general, the height of the fever does not relate to the seriousness of the illness. Much more important is how sick the child acts.

Definition of Fever

Fever is defined as a temperature above the normal range. The body’s average temperature is usually around 98.6 degrees to a high of 100.6 degrees in the late afternoon. Mild elevations in temperature can be caused by exercise, warm clothing, hot weather, or warm food or drink. If one of these causes is suspected, it should be eliminated and the temperature should be retaken in approximately 1/2 hour.

Facts About Fever

The fevers that children usually experience in the range 101-104 are not harmful. A high fever may be defined as one greater than 105 degrees. Fever by itself causes no brain damage or other harm unless it reaches at least 107 degrees. Even then, the cause of the fever may be more important than the height of the fever in possible injury that may occur. Untreated fever in children with viral infections, which constitute the vast majority of causes of fever in childhood do not tend to exceed 105 degrees. The thermostat that controls temperature in the brain does not allow fevers to go unrelentingly upward.

Taking the Temperature

In general, in a child who has an illness accompanied by fever, the temperature should be taken only at the major times of day (morning, afternoon, and evening) when he or she seems sick; but as the illness appears to resolve, a once a day temperature is quite adequate. The following table is presented as a guide to taking your child’s temperature:

Fever in Adults – Infections

Doctors first ask questions about the person’s symptoms and medical history. Doctors then do a physical examination. What they find during the history and physical examination often suggests a cause of the fever and the tests that may need to be done.

A doctor begins by asking a person about present and previous symptoms and disorders, drugs currently being taken, any blood transfusions, exposure to infections, recent travel, vaccinations, and recent hospitalizations, surgeries, or other medical procedures. The pattern of the fever rarely helps the doctor make a diagnosis. However, a fever that returns every other day or every third day is typical of malaria. Doctors consider malaria as a possible cause only if people have traveled to an area where malaria is common.

Recent travel may give the doctor clues to the cause of a fever because some infections occur only in certain areas. For example, coccidioidomycosis (a fungal infection) occurs almost exclusively in the southwestern United States.

Recent exposures are also important. For example, people who work in a meatpacking plant are more likely to develop brucellosis (a bacterial infection spread through contact with domestic animals). Other examples include unsafe water or food (such as unpasteurized milk and milk products, and raw or undercooked meat, fish, and shellfish), insect bites (such as ticks or mosquitoes), unprotected sex, and occupational or recreational exposures (such as hunting, hiking, and water sports).

Pain is an important clue to the possible source of fever, so the doctor asks about any pain in the ears, head, neck, teeth, throat, chest, abdomen, flank, rectum, muscles, and joints.

Other symptoms that help determine the cause of the fever include nasal congestion and/or discharge, cough, diarrhea, and urinary symptoms (frequency, urgency, and pain while urinating). Knowing whether the person has enlarged lymph nodes or a rash (including what it looks like, where it is, and when it appeared in relation to other symptoms) may help the doctor pinpoint a cause. People with recurring fevers, night sweats, and weight loss may have a chronic infection such as tuberculosis or endocarditis (infection of the heart’s lining and usually the heart valves).

The doctor may also ask about the following:

• Contact with anyone who has an infection

• Any known conditions that predispose to infection, such as HIV infection, diabetes, cancer, organ transplantation, sickle cell disease, or heart valve disorders, particularly if an artificial valve is present

• Any known disorders that predispose to fever without infection, such as lupus, gout, sarcoidosis, an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism), or cancer

• Use of any drugs that predispose to infection, such as cancer chemotherapy drugs, corticosteroids, or other drugs that suppress the immune system

• Use of illicit drugs that are injected

The physical examination begins with confirmation of fever. Fever is most accurately determined by measuring rectal temperature. Then the doctor does a thorough examination from head to toe to check for a source of infection or evidence of disease.

Chills: Causes & Treatment

Overview

What are chills?

Chills are a sign that your body is trying to regulate its core temperature. When you have chills, you may:

• Shiver or tremble.
• Shake.
• Have chattering teeth (your jaw feels like it’s rattling, sometimes with your teeth bumping together).
• Have goosebumps (small rash-like bumps on the skin), also known as gooseflesh or goose pimples.

These are involuntary body responses. Involuntary means you can’t consciously control them. Shivering causes your muscles to contract and relax, which warms up your body.

Sometimes you might get cold chills from being exposed to low temperatures. Shivering can also be a sign that your body is fighting off an illness, infection or another health problem.

Possible Causes

What causes chills?

You experience chills when your body’s core temperature drops. For most people, the average core temperature hovers around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). A “normal” temperature can vary between 97 F and 99 F, though.

Your body’s temperature naturally varies. But very low temperatures are dangerous. Exposure to extreme cold can lead to hypothermia (low body temperature). This problem occurs when body temperature drops below 95 F (35 C).

These health conditions can also make you shiver:

What are other causes of chills?

As many as two in three people experience chills and shivering after receiving general anesthesia for a surgery. Even if you aren’t feeling cold, a drop in body temperature may cause you to shiver as you come out of the anesthesia.

Some people tremble from a surge of adrenaline after a traumatic event like an accident or near accident. Psychological trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), may also make you feel shaky.

How can I prevent chills?

You can prevent cold chills by dressing warmly when you know you’ll be in the cold. Wearing layers allows you to adjust your clothes for the temperature so you don’t get sweaty. Sweating and then getting cold can lower your body temperature too much.

You can also take steps to safeguard your health against medical conditions that cause chills. Avoid misusing drugs or alcohol. If you have a condition like diabetes, take care to control your blood sugar.

Care and Treatment

How are chills treated?

Layering clothes or getting to a warm place can make cold chills go away. You can also drink hot chocolate, coffee or tea to raise your internal body temperature.

If an illness, infection or another health problem causes chills, treating the condition should get rid of the symptom. Treatments vary depending on the underlying cause. They may include:

• Antibiotics for bacterial and parasitic infections.
• Antiviral medications for viral infections.
• Over-the-counter medicine, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol®) or ibuprofen (Advil®), for conditions like flu that cause fevers and chills.

When to Call the Doctor

When should I contact a healthcare provider?

You should contact your healthcare provider if you experience body chills and:

• Temperature above 104 F (40 C) or below 95 F (35 C) in an adult or a child older than three.
• Temperature above 102.2 F (39 C) in a child aged three months to three years.
• Temperature above 100.4 F (38 C) in an infant younger than three months.
• Chest pain or unexplained pain.
• Extreme fatigue.
• Severe abdominal pain.
• Wheezing or difficulty breathing.

What questions should I ask my healthcare provider?

You may want to ask your healthcare provider:

• What is causing my chills?
• How should I treat chills?
• Should I look out for signs of complications?

Chills can cause an uncomfortable sensation of shivering and goosebumps. They’re often a sign that your body feels too cold or is fighting off an illness. Many people feel chilled when they have a fever. Warming your body with more clothes and heat can ward off cold chills. If a sickness causes chills, see your healthcare provider. Most chills pass within a few hours or days. In the meantime, pile on the blankets and make a cup of tea.

What is Hyperpyrexia? What are its causes, symptoms, and treatments?

Normal human body temperature ranges from 97 to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (36.5 to 37.5 degrees Celsius). Your body temperature changes during the day and varies throughout your lifetime. When your body temperature goes above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (37.5 degrees Celsius), you have a fever — also called pyrexia. So, a very high fever is called hyperpyrexia.

‌Hyperpyrexia is a condition where the body temperature goes above 106.7 degrees Fahrenheit (41.5 degrees Celsius) due to changes in the hypothalamus — the organ in the brain that regulates temperature.‌

Hyperpyrexia is a life-threatening emergency that demands urgent medical attention. Without prompt proper treatment, hyperpyrexia can lead to long-term complications and death. ‌

Your body temperature can also increase due to external factors like a high ambient temperature. Your hypothalamus is not involved in such cases. This condition is called hyperthermia, not hyperpyrexia.‌‌

If you have hyperpyrexia, then you may also experience:

If your hyperpyrexia stays on for a long time or if it worsens, then you may show more severe symptoms like:

• Mild confusion 
• Headache 
• Contracted pupils 
• Vomiting 
• Diarrhea
• Reduced urine production ‌

If hyperpyrexia is prolonged, then you may also show:

• Extreme confusion 
• Loss of consciousness 
• Dry, hot, red skin
• Widened pupils 
• Seizures 
• Rapid shallow breathing

If hyperpyrexia progresses further, it will ultimately lead to organ failure and death. 

Causes of Hyperpyrexia

Hyperpyrexia is not a disease but a symptom of an underlying condition, and it can have many causes. Here are some of the causes: 

Infections.Bacterial, parasitic, or viral infections are the most common cause of hyperpyrexia. Malaria, which is caused by protozoa, is also an important infectious cause of hyperpyrexia 

Intracranial hemorrhage. Intracranial hemorrhage means bleeding in the brain, caused by trauma or stroke. This can affect your hypothalamus, which controls thermoregulation — i.e., body temperature control.‌

Anesthesia. Hyperpyrexia can occur as a side effect of general anesthesia. Hyperpyrexia due to anesthesia happens when there is an underlying muscle disease. This type of hyperpyrexia is called malignant hyperpyrexia. It is associated with a rapid, sustained increase in body temperature, metabolic acidosis, and generalized muscular rigidity. This condition is often fatal. 

Thyroid storm. A thyroid storm is a rare condition where the body overproduces thyroid hormones. The excess hormones can disrupt the body’s temperature regulation and cause hyperpyrexia.‌

Some meds and drugs. Some medicines and drugs can also cause hyperpyrexia, these include:

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — or SSRIs
• Antipsychotics 
• Recreational drugs like ecstasy 

How Hyperpyrexia Is Diagnosed

‌Hyperpyrexia is diagnosed using a thermometer. A temperature reading of 106.7 degrees Fahrenheit (41.5 degrees Celsius) or above indicates hyperpyrexia. 

Hyperpyrexia always has an underlying cause, and finding this underlying cause is crucial, but sometimes challenging.

If you have hyperpyrexia, you must seek medical attention as soon as possible. To diagnose the cause of hyperpyrexia, your doctor will analyze your medical and travel history, check your physical condition, and run several tests. These tests may include: 

• Blood tests — for signs of infection
• Thyroid function tests — for a thyroid storm 
• Imaging studies — for intracranial hemorrhage

Depending on your history and presentation, your doctor may suggest further testing.

How Hyperpyrexia Is Treated

As an emergency requiring immediate medical attention, hyperpyrexia must not progress to avoid organ damage and death. While you wait for medical attention, do the following to treat the fever:

• Remove any tight or extra clothing. 
• Sponge with tepid water or a cool bath. 
• Replace fluids through drinking. 
• Take medication like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs ( NSAIDs). Don’t give aspirin to children aged 19 years or below to avoid Reye’s syndrome.‌

Your doctor will decide on the treatment of hyperpyrexia depending on the underlying cause. If the cause is an infection, then your doctors will treat the infection. If it is caused by anesthesia, your doctor will stop the anesthesia and give you medication to control the fever. If you’ve ever had hyperpyrexia due to anesthesia, you should tell your doctor or anesthesiologist about it.

Any drug-related hyperpyrexia will need you to immediately discontinue taking the drug and receive supportive care. Hyperpyrexia due to a thyroid storm will require antithyroid drugs. Antipyretic medications like NSAIDs and corticosteroids are used to treat hyperpyrexia caused by intracranial hemorrhage.

Fever in Children|Complete Children’s Health

By David Meduna, MD, FAAP

Fever is a common and distressing problem among children. We often get calls about fever, and there is a lot of confusion about when to be concerned and when not to be concerned when your child has a fever.

Normal body temperature can range from 97 to 100.3 degrees Fahrenheit. Doctors consider body temperature over 100.3 degrees Fahrenheit a fever. Some school systems consider temperatures over 99.9 degrees Fahrenheit to be a fever. Fever is a normal body reaction to many infections. It slows the reproduction of many types of bacteria and viruses and thus helps us get over these infections. Fevers over 103-104 degrees Fahrenheit really do not have any more benefit for the child then fevers under this level; therefore, treatment of fevers in healthy children can usually be held until fevers are over 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Treatment is indicated in children with heart, lung and other chronic conditions, as it may make these conditions worse. Discuss how to treat fevers with your health care provider.

A long held myth is that a high fever will somehow damage the brain. Fevers need to really get up to around 106 degrees Fahrenheit to cause brain damage. Fevers due to infections very rarely get this high. The exception is in children who have too many clothes/blankets on, which can stop heat from leaving the child. This is why we tell parents to open children’s clothes and remove extra blankets with high fevers. Sometimes a sponge bath with lukewarm water is also appropriate. Fevers due to heat stroke and certain medication reactions can get high enough to damage vital organs and are a medical emergency.

The real question to ask regarding a fever is what is causing it. Fever can be caused by anything from mild, temporary viral infections to severe life threatening infections. Here are a few points to keep in mind:

When to notify your healthcare provider of a fever depends on your child’s age, as the type and severity of infections that children can get varies by age. If your child is:

• Birth-3 months: Call right away with any fever over 100.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Older than 3 months: Call right away with any fever over 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

In addition, always call your healthcare provider if any of the below apply:

• You are very concerned about your child.
• Fever is associated with shortness of breath, severely decreased activity, severe cough, or stiff neck.
• Your child has a fever with a very sore throat and/or known exposure to strep throat.
• Your child’s symptoms seem different from ordinary cold symptoms.

Fevers due to viruses usually start at the beginning of an illness and typically are gone by about 3 days. Even though fevers resulting from viral illness can rarely last up to a week, it is important to rule out serious infection, so if your child has a fever for more than three days or develops a new fever after several days of illness, he or she should be seen by a healthcare provider. The healthcare provider can decide when further follow-up should occur.

Here are some final thoughts about fever:

• Athletes should not train when they have a fever.
• A child with a viral illness is more likely to spread the virus when fever is present, and that is why we ask children with fevers to stay home from school until the fever is gone.
• Fevers will often break in the morning and return at night.

What to Know About Fever and COVID-19

One of the issues confronting people during this outbreak is that many physical and online stores are sold out of thermometers.

If you don’t have one, the CDC says that “a fever may be considered to be present if a person . . . feels warm to the touch or gives a history of feeling feverish.” In other words, Mom’s method of placing the back of her hand on your forehead may be a decent fallback. But given the contagiousness of this coronavirus, remember to wash your hands thoroughly afterward.

And don’t worry if you don’t have someone at home who can do a touch check of your forehead. Schmidt notes most adults are fairly good at gauging when they’re feeling hot and unwell.

You could also look in the mirror. The CDC states that “the appearance of a flushed face, glassy eyes, or chills” could indicate a fever.

As a last resort, if you have a meat thermometer (preferably a digital one, which shows decimal points), you could experiment by placing it under your tongue to get a general sense of your temperature, and whether it’s going up or down. Though the method is certainly unorthodox, and not specifically recommended, I asked two doctors to test it out and they kindly obliged.

Schmidt says that her “meat thermometer read about the same as an oral thermometer over three takes, but was 1 to 1.5 degrees lower than a temporal artery reading” via her forehead. Nanos also humored my request and says that her meat thermometer “is too variable, and the temperature drops as soon as you start pulling it out of your mouth.”

I gave my meat thermometer a try, too. I found that it gave a comparable reading to my oral thermometer. It took a couple of minutes for the meat thermometer to show a significant rise, but it indicated that I was in the 98 range, just like my oral thermometer reading.

Granted, the meat thermometer reading was not exact and it did drop down as soon as I took it out of my mouth, but if you’re trying to track trends in your temperature and you have no other option, that meat thermometer could be better than nothing.

If you do call a doctor to report your temperature, be sure to note which type of thermometer you used. Healthcare professionals know that different types of thermometers tend to yield slightly different numbers, so they will want to consider that information in assessing how you’re doing.

Malaria (for Parents) – Nemours KidsHealth

What Is Malaria?

Malaria is a common infection in hot, tropical areas. Very rarely, it also can happen in temperate climates.

Malaria can cause mild illness in some people and life-threatening illness in others. Proper treatment can cure malaria.

What Causes Malaria?

Malaria is caused by parasites carried by mosquitoes. The insects pick up the parasite by biting someone who already has the disease. Malaria is then passed to other people when the mosquitoes bite them.

Rarely, malaria can pass from person to person — from mother to child in “congenital malaria,” or through blood transfusion, organ donation, or shared needles.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Malaria?;

Early symptoms of malaria can include irritability and drowsiness, with poor appetite and trouble sleeping. These symptoms are usually followed by chills, and then a fever with fast breathing. The fever may either gradually rise over 1 to 2 days or spike very suddenly to 105°F (40.6°C) or higher. Then, as the fever ends and the person’s body temperature quickly returns to normal, there is an intense episode of sweating.

The same pattern of symptoms — chills, fever, sweating — may repeat every 2 or 3 days, depending on which malaria parasite is causing the infection.

Other symptoms include headache, nausea, aches and pains all over the body (especially the back and abdomen), and an abnormally large spleen. If malaria affects the brain, someone might have seizures or loss of consciousness. The kidneys can also be affected in some cases.

Who Gets Malaria?

Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people are infected with malaria each year. Most cases are in sub-Saharan Africa. (Asia, Latin America, and parts of Europe are also affected by malaria.) Every year, there are about 500,000 deaths from malaria worldwide.

Malaria is rare in the United States, and most of these cases are in travelers, military personnel, and immigrants. Malaria can affect people of all ages, but young children and pregnant women are more likely to develop severe illness.

How Is Malaria Diagnosed?

Doctors suspect malaria based on a person’s symptoms, physical findings, and where a person lives or has traveled. Doctors might take a blood sample to be checked under a microscope for malaria parasites, which are seen inside infected red blood cells.

In countries where the disease is seen a lot, doctors often treat people for malaria who have a fever with no obvious cause without getting lab tests to prove the person has malaria.

How Is Malaria Treated?

Malaria is treated with anti-malarial drugs given by mouth, by injection, or intravenously (into the veins). Depending on the parasite causing the malaria, a person might be treated as an outpatient over a few days or in the hospital with IV medicine.

Doctors also watch for signs of dehydration, convulsions, anemia, and other complications that can affect the brain, kidneys, or spleen. A patient may need fluids, blood transfusions, and help with breathing.

If diagnosed early and treated, malaria can usually be cured in about 2 weeks. However, many people who live in areas where malaria is common get repeated infections and never really recover between episodes of illness. Without treatment, the disease can be fatal, especially in children who are malnourished.

Can Malaria Be Prevented?

Health authorities try to prevent malaria by using mosquito-control programs aimed at killing mosquitoes that carry the disease. If you travel to an area of the world with a high risk for malaria, you can install window screens, use insect repellents, and place mosquito netting over beds. Insecticide-impregnated bed netting has successfully lowered the number of malaria deaths among African children.

Check with your doctor before visiting any tropical or subtropical area at high risk for malaria. Your doctor can give your family anti-malarial drugs to prevent the disease, which need to be taken before travel. Several malaria vaccines are currently being developed and tested across the world, but because the malaria parasite has a complicated life cycle, it’s a difficult vaccine to develop.

90,000 Myths About High Temperatures | Events | HEALTH

Myth 1. The more severe the illness, the higher the temperature

Yuri KATS, reflexologist, candidate of medical sciences:

– The rise in temperature does not depend on the severity of the disease, but on the characteristics of the organism. The younger the person, the stronger the immunity, the more pronounced his temperature reaction. With practically no fever, diseases occur in old people and emaciated people with weakened immunity.

Myth 2.Temperature is useful – it burns viruses and germs

Alexander Karabinenko, professor of the Russian State Medical University:

– Pathogenic microorganisms are “burned” only by a very high temperature – above 41 ° C, which is definitely harmful to the body. At a body temperature of 41 ° C, the load on the heart increases 5-6 times. At a temperature of 42 ° C, protein begins to coagulate (fold) in the body.

Myth 3.

Temperature rises only during illness

Yuri Vyalba, psychotherapist:

– Physiological increase in temperature (up to 37.5 ° C) arises from overheating, during active physical work, during stress or strong feelings.In children, the temperature may rise from violent crying, warm clothing, or hot food. For some people, fever is normal. Researchers from the University of Maryland, having examined 148 healthy men and women aged 18 to 48, found that normal temperatures can range from 35.5 to 37.7 ° C.

Myth 4. If the disease proceeds with a high fever, recovery occurs faster

Alexander Karabinenko:

– This is true only for viral diseases – the rapid onset of influenza most often ends in a quick recovery.Many diseases are characterized by a persistent, prolonged increase in temperature.

Myth 5. The temperature can be determined by feeling the forehead and hands

Sergei Nikonov, professor of the National Center for the Union of Artists:

– Perspiration can keep the forehead cool even at very high temperatures. Tactile temperature is more reliable to determine in the upper abdomen.

See also:

90,000 The deadliest pandemics in human history – Rossiyskaya Gazeta

One of the main topics of 2014 was the extremely dangerous Ebola fever.Despite the rapid spread of the disease around the world, by the end of the year, the panic had subsided, and some countries said they had coped with the epidemic. Humanity has already been tested for its durability by various viruses and bacteria more than a dozen times, and we have successfully coped with even the most terrible representatives of them. About the bloodiest wars against infections and victories over them – in our digest.

Plague

The name of this disease has become a household name for all infections that led to pandemics.The causative agent of the disease is the plague bacillus, and its transmission to humans occurs from fleas or rodents.

The plague was first spoken about in 540 AD, and over the next hundred years, more than 150 million people died from the epidemic around the globe. To understand the global nature of the catastrophe, it is worth knowing that the entire population of the then world did not exceed 400-450 million. The first meeting of mankind with this disease went down in history as “Justinian’s plague”, named after the Byzantine emperor Justinian I.

It was Soviet scientists who managed to bring the disease to its knees. In 1947, during an outbreak of plague in Manchuria, they used streptomycin for the first time in the world. Thanks to them, even the most hopeless patients have recovered. Yes, isolated outbreaks of plague are still occurring, but experts have established that the correct treatment of plague should be carried out with antibiotics, sulfonamides and medicinal anti-plague serum. Then mortality from infection occurs only in 5-10 percent of cases.

For the second time, the plague, which received the sonorous name “Black Death”, appeared in the XIV century.As befits a real pandemic, it raged almost simultaneously in Africa and Eurasia. At the same time, the disease gets another name – “bubonic plague”, buboes are abscesses and tumors that arose in patients. The Gobi desert became the place where the “zero patient” appeared, and from here, along with the hordes of the Golden Horde, the disease spread throughout the entire globe for 10 years. As in the first time, the consequences of the infection were terrible: Europe was deserted, having lost, according to some estimates, up to 40 percent of the population, several hundred cities and villages became extinct in China and India, and the number of deaths in Africa cannot be counted at all.

The third person’s acquaintance with the plague stick took place in 1855 in China. The mountain valleys of Yunnan suffered from infection alone for four decades, but by the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to traders and armies, the infection had reached the rest of the world. In general, the third “wave” was not so destructive, although it noticeably battered China and India, killing about 20 million people in total.

Cholera

Cholera as a deadly intestinal infection has been known to mankind since ancient times.It is also mentioned by Hippocrates and Celsus. The disease is characterized by rapid loss of fluid from the body, dehydration and subsequent death. But until the 19th century, the disease never behaved aggressively and was always limited to isolated outbreaks at the sites of earthquakes and floods.

In 1816, the first cholera pandemic began in what is now Bangladesh. Thousands of British soldiers, millions of Indians and more than one hundred thousand people on the island of Java became its victims. By the middle of the century, the disease reached Russia, this moment is described in history thanks to numerous “cholera riots”.Further, the infection spread to Germany, France, Great Britain, leaving behind up to 60 thousand corpses in each country. After cholera moved overseas and killed more than 250 thousand people in the United States and Canada.

By 1860, the almost extinct infection reappears. In Russia, a million people die from it, almost one and a half million die throughout Europe. Cholera will kill another 10 million people by 1923. The last time a cholera pandemic was declared in 1962, although isolated cases and focal outbreaks of the disease are still recorded.

Cholera treatment consists in combating dehydration and the loss of vital elements in the body, as well as in the use of the simplest antibiotics, to which the virus has not developed resistance.

Smallpox

Smallpox, like cholera, has been known to doctors since ancient times. It is a highly contagious infection with a mortality rate of over 40 percent. And if you do manage to survive, then, most likely, you will go blind and be covered with ulcer scars for life.

According to the chronicles, the first smallpox epidemics were recorded in Asia between the 4th and 8th centuries AD. Lack of knowledge about the disease led to disastrous consequences: the population of China and Korea decreased by a quarter, Japan by 40 percent. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the death rate from smallpox in Europe and Russia was up to 1.5 million people per year. The number of those who recovered, but remained disabled, reached 20 million.

It was at this time that doctors and scientists from several countries began to pay attention to a strange pattern: people who are in direct contact with animals – shepherds, milkmaids, cavalrymen, get sick with natural or “black” smallpox much less often than others.Later it was found that vaccinia infection makes a person almost completely immune to natural disease. Mass vaccinations began, but the positive effect waned over time, a revaccination was required, which people often ignored, believing that they had put themselves unnecessarily at risk the first time. As a result, by 1875, about a million people were dying in Europe every year.

In 1928, due to widespread vaccinations, smallpox ceased to threaten humanity.Nevertheless, before that, in the 20th century, she managed to destroy up to 400 million people. It was Soviet scientists who in 1958 offered the world 25 million smallpox vaccines to fight the disease. So far, smallpox is considered eradicated, and the only two copies of this virus are stored in the Russian state scientific center of virology and biotechnology “Vector” and in the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Interestingly, smallpox is most likely the most dangerous disease for kings and emperors.At various times, Queen Mary II of England, the leader of the Aztecs Cuitlahuac, King of France Louis XV and three Japanese emperors died from her.

Spanish flu or “Spanish flu”

The most massive and deadliest influenza pandemic in the history of mankind. The flu acquired its name from the place of its first appearance – Spain, where by May 1918 about 9 million people were already ill with it. The First World War and the associated displacement of millions of armies contributed to the almost instantaneous spread of the virus throughout the earth, from Alaska and Greenland to Australia and the Amazon jungle.Technological progress, so praised by scientists of that time, also did its job: trains, ships and airships replicated the virus so quickly that in the first 30 weeks of its existence, the virus killed more than 35 million people worldwide. All in all, about 600 million, or almost a third of the world’s population, fell ill with the “Spanish flu”, and according to various estimates, from 60 to 100 million people died.

In Russia, about 3 million people died, including such prominent people as the silent film legend Vera Kholodnaya, revolutionary Yakov Sverdlov, engineer Leonid Kapitsa.In the world, such famous personalities as the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, the philosopher and sociologist Max Weber have become victims of the flu. Cases of death on the streets in major cities around the world were so commonplace that passers-by did not even turn around, and the number of mourning and funeral processions resembled a terrible and frightening parade. There is a story about an undertaker from New York who earned 150 thousand dollars in one month! True, he did not have time to use this amount – he died of the flu.

In 2009, the Spanish flu reappeared, albeit in a milder form.The h2N1 strain, known at the beginning of the twentieth century as “Spanish flu” has now changed its name to “swine flu”, and is treated like other types of flu.

What you need to know about Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever?

What you need to know about Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever?

9:43, 4 July 2016, Health

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (lat.febris haemorrhagica crimiana, synonym: Crimean hemorrhagic fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Central Asian hemorrhagic fever) is an acute human infectious disease transmitted through tick bites and ticks and internal organs.First identified in 1944 in the Crimea. The causative agent was identified in 1945. In 1956, a similar disease was identified in the Congo. Studies of the virus have established its complete identity with the virus found in Crimea. The gateway of infection is the skin at the site of a tick bite or minor injuries when it comes into contact with the blood of sick people (with nosocomial infection). At the site of the gate of infection, no pronounced changes are observed. The virus enters the bloodstream and accumulates in the cells of the reticuloendothelial system. The incubation period is from one to 14 days.Most often 3-5 days. The prodromal period is absent. The disease develops sharply.

In the initial (pre-hemorrhagic) period, there are only signs of general intoxication, characteristic of many infectious diseases. The initial period usually lasts 3-4 days (from 1 to 7 days). During this period, against the background of high fever, weakness, fatigue, headache, aches throughout the body, severe headache, pain in muscles and joints are noted.

More rare manifestations of the initial period include dizziness, impaired consciousness, severe pain in the calf muscles, signs of inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.Only in some patients, even before the development of the hemorrhagic period, symptoms characteristic of this disease appear – repeated vomiting, not associated with food intake, back pain, abdominal pain, mainly in the epigastric region.

A persistent symptom is fever, which lasts an average of 7-8 days, the temperature curve is especially typical for the Crimean hemorrhagic fever. In particular, with the appearance of hemorrhagic syndrome, a decrease in body temperature to subfebrile is noted, after 1-2 days the body temperature rises again, which determines the “two-humped” temperature curve characteristic of this disease.

In the majority of patients, on the 2-4th day of illness (less often on the 5-7th day), a hemorrhagic rash appears on the skin and mucous membranes, hematomas at the injection sites, there may be bleeding (stomach, intestinal, etc.). The patient’s condition deteriorates sharply. Facial hyperemia is replaced by pallor, the face becomes puffy, cyanosis of the lips and acrocyanosis appear.

Fever lasts 10-12 days. The normalization of body temperature and the cessation of bleeding characterizes the transition to the recovery period.Asthenization persists for a long time (up to 1-2 months). Some patients may have mild forms of the disease, occurring without pronounced thrombohemorrhagic syndrome, but they, as a rule, remain undetected.

As complications, sepsis, pulmonary edema, focal pneumonia, acute renal failure, otitis media, thrombophlebitis can be observed. Mortality ranges from 2 to 50%.

To prevent infection, the main focus is on vector control. They carry out disinsection of the premises for keeping livestock, prevent grazing on pastures located on the territory of the natural hearth.Individuals should wear protective clothing on an individual basis. Treat clothing, sleeping bags, and tents with repellents.