The Battle Of Midway Essay Research Paper

I am doing a report on the disease Diphtheria. The

definition of the disease is a bacterial disease that

affects the throat and can cause serious or fatal

complications. It is a serious disease caused by the

bacterium. There is a lot of history on this disease. In

the late 1800?s diphtheria came across western Europe and

the United States, it killed thousands of children. The

diphtheria characterized by infection is more contagious

than the disease characterized by respiratory infection.

Diphtheria is a disease of the respiratory system. It

causes membranes to grow on the inner throat. Sometimes the

membranes release a toxin into the bloodstream(which is

poisonous). The membranes clog the air passages then you

can hardly breath, most of the time you will die. You

should have complete bedrest for two to three weeks. Then a

man named Bela Schick came over the Schick test. He

discovered that the disease was only to be found in humans.

It may sometimes enter and effect the skin. This disease is

now rare in most of the world. That is most of the history

on diphtheria.

There are many symptoms that can aware you that you

have the disease. You should notice the first symptoms

during the first through seventh days after you get it.

Some of the first symptoms you sill get are fatigue, a

low-grade fever, and a sore throat. Next you will also

notice swelling to the neck. Some other symptoms are

painful swallowing, nausea and vomiting, chills, bloody,

watery drainage from nose, scabbing of nostrils and upper

lip, bluish coloration of skin, fever, headache, breathing

difficulty, croup-like cough, hoarseness, stridor, drooling,

and rapid breathing. Those are most of the symptoms of

Diphtheria.

There are many treatments for Diphtheria. As soon as

the disease is suspected diphtheria antitoxin is given as an

intramuscular injection. The Disease is treated with

antibiotics. As an infant you should safely be give the DPT

vaccine. This vaccine is a three in one vaccine that

protects against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus. The

vaccine has some side effects as slight fever, crankiness,

and tenderness of skin. DPT is usually given in the leg or

the arm. You can also be give the DT vaccine. The DT

vaccine is a two in one vaccine. This vaccine should be

given to children less than seven years old. This is given

in the arm or the thigh. This protects against diphtheria

and tetanus. There is one last vaccine. It is the Td

vaccine. The Td vaccine is also a two in one vaccine that

protects against tetanus and diphtheria. This should be

give to adults only. After the regular series of

injections, a booster of Td vaccine should be taken at the

age of fourteen to sixteen and every ten years after that.

This is a different dose than the DT vaccine. This one is

usually given in the arm. The vaccination is one of the

recommended childhood immunizations and should begin during

infancy. A lot of times it is required before the children

start school. There is a minimum of three injections, but

there can be five taken.

There is a benefit of taking the vaccine. The benefit

is that 85% of the people who received three injections of

the vaccine will be protected from the disease for ten

years.

There are also some risks involved with the vaccines.

DPT often causes mild side effects suck as slight fever,

mild crankiness, and tenderness of the injection site for a

few days. They happen because of the pertussis component of

the vaccine. DTP can cause some risks in one out of every

one thousand seven hundred and fifty people. These effects

are convulsions, febrile seizure, and shock or collapse. In

some cases brain damage has also been known to happened.

This is very rare though. If you have has seizures before

this time then you are most likely to have seizures. There

is also death which is a very rare possibility too.

There are also some contradictions you might run into

about the vaccinations also. If your child is sick with

something more serious than a mild cold, the vaccine may be

put off until the child is feeling better. If your child

has seizures or brain damage the vaccine will also be put

off until tests show that they are not getting worse. After

your child has had the vaccine you should contact a

physician if the following happened: seizures within three

to seven days after injection, any serious brain problem

within seven days after injection, worsening of seizures or

other brain problem, mouth, throat, or face swelling within

a few hours after injection, difficulty breathing within a

few hours after injection, temperature of one hundred and

five degrees Fahrenheit or higher within two days after

injection, shock or collapse within two days after

injection, and persistent, uncontrolled crying that lasts

for more than three hours at a time within two days after

injection. For one or two days after the injection it is

normal for the child to experience fever, soreness at the

injection site, swelling at the injection site, and redness

at the injection site. Adults who just recently get the

shot can has swelling at the injection site for up to three

days.

You can get an examination from a physician and it may

show that there are characteristics of gray membranes in the

throat, enlarged lymph glands, and swelling of the neck or

larynx. The test includes gram stain of membrane, throat

culture, and ECG.