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Healthy gut microbiota and bacteria helps digest food, fight infection, and plays an important role in keeping the immune system healthy. It is influenced by genetics, but more so by diet, stress and other environmental factors. Numerous studies have investigated the claim that intestinal bacteria …
Research carried out by the experts at Aquaint sanitizer earlier this month have uncovered some disgusting facts that may make you want to choose a destination you can drive to this vacation season. Many people report feeling sick after an airplane ride – from runny …
When you hear the term “the plague” it is common that you automatically think back to grade school when you learned about its history and how it wiped out about 60% of Europe’s population in the 14th century. Historians and researchers now know that the plague is caused by a bacterium that infects small rodents and is usually transmitted through bites and fleas that jump from host to host. But how is this relevant today? At the beginning of this month, a 16-year old high school student, Taylor Gaes, died from the plague, making him the first person since 1999 to catch the highly contagious disease.
According to MSN, the high school baseball and football player suffered from fever, muscle aches and pains that were misinterpreted as the flu. Only after his death did his doctors conclude his flu was actually a case of the plague.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior associate at the University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center for Health Security explains, “It’s tragic but not surprising that Gaes’ symptoms were misinterpreted. It’s very hard to distinguish plague from a lot of other illnesses in its early stages because there are several forms of the disease. The type that Gaes had – with infection spread throughout the body – can be difficult to recognize. If someone has a bubonic plague, they will often have a swollen lymph node, which is very dramatic. But if someone has primary septicemic plague or pneumonic plague, you won’t be able to distinguish it that easily from other common causes of respiratory illness.”
A statement from the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment believes that Gaes may have contracted the plague from fleas on a dead rodent or other animal on his family’s property but an investigation is still underway. Rodent infestations are serious issues. Once it gets out of our hand, it can become quite severe.
According to the CDC, a plague vaccine is no longer available in the United States. However, it can be treated with commonly available antibiotics. The earlier a patient seeks medical care and receives treatment, the better the chances of recovery. This disease seems to occur in rural areas of the western U.S like New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado (CDC).
Here’s how you can protect yourself and your family from the plague:
Sources: http://www.cdc.gov/, http://www.msn.com/
Photo by Michael Jasmund on Unsplash Your bathroom, kitchen and living room are probably the biggest areas that you target when cleaning your home. Of course, you make sure to scrub the toilet and wash the dishes. But what if you are not cleaning some …
Photo by Peter Bond on Unsplash This year, the number of companies who have recalled their most well-known products has skyrocketed. From apples to frozen foods, the number of items lining the shelves in your favorite supermarket seem to be steadily decreasing. This is because …
When you were a kid, your parents always told you to share. And if you have a younger sibling, you are not new to sharing everything – from clothing to food. But what about sharing your makeup?
Beauty and skin care expert Laurie Polis, MD, says, “When it comes to bad make up sharing habits, the eyes rank as the most dangerous. The most common viral infection of the eye is pinkeye which is extremely contagious. People don’t always know they’re brewing it.”
Women do it all the time – take a bathroom break and ask a friend to borrow some lipstick. But Polis also explains that sharing lip stick or lip gloss “could be risky if your friend has herpes labialis, an infection caused by contagious herpes simplex virus. That’s the virus that causes small painful blisters known as cold sores or fever blisters on the mouth. Your friend may be “shedding the virus’ and not realize she’s getting a cold sore.”
In a recent news story first reported in the Daily Mail, a 27-year old woman from Australia is now confined to a wheel chair after borrowing
a makeup brush from a friend. Jo Gilchrist caught a staph infection that attacked her spine when all she wanted to do was cover up a blemish. Dermatologist Dr. Seth Forman sees staph infections on a regular basis and reports that they are highly contagious. He states, “You can get it from a door handle at a mall, from a menu at a restaurant or from picking your children up at school. It is all over. It usually starts with a cut that gets infected by bacteria. A lot of men get it on their chest, some woman get it on their legs. It happens where people have a high density of hair follicles.”
Forman warns others to always wash your hands to lower the chances of spreading infection and to never share razors, towels or nail clippers. Laurie Polis advises that if you can’t avoid sharing makeup, “Wipe off the top layer of the product after a friend uses it or when you’re at a makeup counter in a store. If it’s a liner pencil, sharpen it. If it’s a lipstick or eyeshadow, swipe the tip or compact with a tissue.”
Protect yourself from infection – stop sharing your makeup. It is better (and safer) to go without lipstick for a few hours than to introduce an infection into your body.
Source: WebMD.com, abc15.com and Dailymail.co.uk