My best friend is going to be serving her mission in Miami,
Florida and so I decided to do some research on the public health trends in her
area. Because I am from the west coast I
thought it would also be interesting to do research on an area that I am not
familiar with. I talked to Biological
Scientist, Lakisha Thomas, of Dade County.
Their health promotion quest
reads, “Our Mission is to protect, promote & improve the health of all
people in Florida through integrated state, county, & community efforts”
which is strikingly similar to the definition we defined in class and gave me
comfort in their ability to do so.
Speaking with Lakisha I was able to understand the five major issues
that is affecting the health of their community.
Out of
all five, the first was the only one that I had not heard of. In their area there have been almost 9000
cases of Chlamydia in the year 2011.
This rate surpasses number two by roughly 6500 cases, thus taking the
lead by a long shot. Chlamydia is the
most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States and this is
even without a large population of reportings because it is commonly a silent
disease- meaning no symptoms. Studies
show that chlamydia can infect men and women; however women are more likely to experience
consequences to their reproductive organs from it.
The second
was gonorrhea. This is spread by having
sex with someone who has the disease or by birth if the mother is infected,
passing it on to her baby. Most people
who have gonorrhea have no symptoms.
However, if one is experiencing symptoms of this sexually transmitted
disease it is common to feel burning while urinating, itching, and soreness. Men can experience a white, yellow, or green
discharge from the penis up to two weeks after the infection. They can also get swollen testicles and have
pain in their bowels. For women it is
typically milder and is often mistaken as a vaginal infections as burning
occurs and sometimes bleeding between menstruation cycles.
HIV was
the third one and was one that I was not surprised to see on the list. HIV is a virus that attacks a person’s immune
system. This can be life threatening as
they are vulnerable to many infections that can be much more serious than if
they did not have HIV. HIV can be
spread by blood, bodily fluids related with sex, or breast milk. This is devastating as it is common and
spreads to those innocent children that do not know better. With this disease your helper T cells,
macrophages, and dendritic cells become infected.
The
next was yet another sexually transmitted disease, syphilis. Syphilis is caused by the bacteria Treponema
pallidum. There are different phases of this
disease with varying degrees of severity.
People with primary syphilis get sores that look like circular bug
bites. These are often painless and are
found around the genitals or the mouth. Secondary
syphilis is when the rash is on the hands.
This can last up to three months after exposure. The last stage is tertiary and is a problem because
it leads to heart, brain, and nerve issues if not treated. Before penicillin was developed, syphilis was
a threat, causing arthritis, brain damage, and sometime even blindness.
The
fifth was salmonella and I was surprised to see it on the list because I have
often been jokingly warned of it when eating cookie dough so it almost seemed a
novel idea. This infection is introduced
to the body by consuming uncooked meat, eggs, or poultry. Symptoms can last up to a week, while it can
take many months for your intestines to heal completely. Salmonella can result in typhoid fever which
can be a big problem in developing countries.
However, the most common symptoms are less life threating and include vomiting,
diarrhea, fever, chills, and blood in the stool. Treatments include antibiotics and plenty of
fluid to replace those lost during diarrhea.
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