Measles
Measles is a highly contagious virus that lives in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person. The symptoms of measles generally appear about seven to 14 days after a person is infected.
Symptoms
High fever, Cough, Runny nose (coryza), Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis), Spots in the mouth, Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots (koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth, Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash breaks out. It usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet. Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots. The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body. When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104° Fahrenheit.
After a few days, the fever subsides and the rash fades and Measles rash
Transmission
Measles can spread to others through coughing and sneezing. Also, measles virus can live for up to two hours in an airspace where the infected person coughed or sneezed. If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected. Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected.
Infected people can spread measles to others from four days before through four days after the rash appears.
Prevention
Measles can be prevented with the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. One dose of MMR vaccine is about 93 percent effective at preventing measles if exposed to the virus, and two doses are about 97 percent effective.
Treatment
No treatment can get rid of an established measles infection. However, some measures can be
taken to protect vulnerable individuals who have been exposed to the virus.
Post-exposure vaccination: Non-immunized people, including infants, may be given the measles vaccination within 72 hours of exposure to the measles virus to provide protection against the disease. If measles still develops, the illness usually has milder symptoms and lasts for a shorter time.
Fever reducers: You or your child may also take over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) or naproxen (Aleve) to help relieve the fever that accompanies measles. Use caution when giving aspirin to children or teenagers. Though aspirin is approved for use in children older than age 3, children and teenagers recovering from chickenpox or flu-like symptoms should never take aspirin. This is because aspirin has been linked to Reye's syndrome, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, in such children.
Scabies
Human scabies is caused by an infestation of the skin by the human itch mite. Adult female itch mites burrow into the upper layer of the skin where they live and deposit their eggs.
The mites are almost always transmitted by direct, prolonged, skin-to-skin contact. An infested person can spread scabies even if they have no symptoms. Animals do not spread scabies to humans.
Symptoms
Symptoms include, pimple-like irritations, burrows or rashes, on a person’s skin, webbing between fingers, skin folds on wrists, elbows, knees, breasts, shoulder blades, or penis. Intense itching at night is one of the earliest symptoms.
It is important to remember that the first time someone gets infested they usually have no symptoms for the first two to six weeks. However they can still spread the infestation during that time period.
Treatment
Products used to treat scabies are called scabicides because they kill scabies mites; some also kill mite eggs. Scabicides used to treat human scabies are available only with a doctor’s prescription.
Bedding, clothing, and towels used by infested persons or their household, sexual and close contacts anytime during the three days before treatment should be decontaminated by washing in hot water and drying in a hot dryer, by dry-cleaning, or by sealing in a plastic bag for at least 72 hours. Scabies mites generally do not survive more than 2 to 3 days away from human skin.
Treatment should be given to both the infested person and to household members and sexual contacts, particularly those who have had prolonged direct skin-to-skin contact with the infested person. Everyone should be treated at the same time to prevent re-infestation.
Prevention
Scabies is prevented by avoiding direct skin-to-skin contact with an infested person or with items such as clothing or bedding used by an infested person.
Ebola
Ebola Virus Disease is a rare and deadly hemorrhagic fever caused by an infection from one of the Ebola virus strains. Ebola can cause disease in humans and non-human primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees).
There are five identified Ebola virus species, four of which are known to cause disease in humans: Ebola virus (Zaire ebolavirus); Sudan virus (Sudan ebolavirus); Taï Forest virus (Taï Forest ebolavirus); and Bundibugyo virus (Bundibugyo ebolavirus). The fifth, Reston virus (Reston ebolavirus), has caused disease in non-human primates, but not in humans.
Symptoms
Fever, Severe headache, Muscle pain, Weakness, Fatigue, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Abdominal (stomach) pain, Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)
Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days.
Transmission
When an infection occurs in humans, the virus can be spread to others through direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes in, for example, the eyes, nose, or mouth) with:
blood or body fluids (including but not limited to urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, and semen) of a person who is sick with or has died from Ebola, objects (like needles and syringes) that have been contaminated with body fluids from a person who is sick with Ebola or the body of a person who has died from Ebola, infected fruit bats or primates (apes and monkeys), and possibly from contact with semen from an Ebola survivor.
Ebola is not spread through the air, by water, or in general, by food. However, in Africa, Ebola may be spread as a result of handling or consuming contaminated bush-meat (wild animals hunted for food) and contact with infected bats. There is no evidence that mosquitoes or other insects can transmit Ebola virus. Only a few species of mammals (e.g., humans, bats, monkeys, and apes) have shown the ability to become infected with and spread Ebola virus.
Treatment
There is currently no FDA-approved vaccine available for Ebola. Experimental vaccines and treatments for Ebola are under development, but they have not yet been fully tested for safety or effectiveness.
Prevention
If you travel to or are in an area affected by an Ebola outbreak, make sure to do the following:
Practice careful hygiene. For example, wash your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer and avoid contact with blood and body fluids (such as urine, feces, saliva, sweat, urine, vomit, breast milk, semen, and vaginal fluids).
Do not handle items that may have come in contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids (such as clothes, bedding, needles, and medical equipment).
Avoid funeral or burial rituals that require handling the body of someone who has died from Ebola.
Avoid contact with bats and nonhuman primates or blood, fluids, and raw meat prepared from these animals.
Avoid facilities in West Africa where Ebola patients are being treated. The U.S. embassy or consulate is often able to provide advice on facilities.
Avoid contact with semen from a man who has had Ebola until you know Ebola is gone from his semen.
After you return, monitor your health for 21 days and seek medical care immediately if you develop symptoms of Ebola.
Covid-19
The coronavirus belongs to a family of viruses. The coronavirus that affect the lower respiratory tract of patients with pneumonia.
Causative agent
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2)
Signs and symptoms
Pneumonia, fever, breathing difficulty, and lung infection
Diagnosis
Covid-19 can provisionally be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and confirmed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing of infected secretions or CT imaging of the chest
Treatment
Taking over-the-counter cold medications, drinking fluids, and resting may help alleviate symptoms. Depending on the severity, oxygen therapy, intravenous fluids, and breathing support may be required
Prevention
Regular hand washing, Social distancing, Using facemask, Practicing good respiratory hygiene, Self-isolation, Vaccination and Ventilation and air filtration
Parasitology
Malaria
Malaria is a life-threatening disease. It’s typically transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito.
Causative agent
The causative agent for Malaria is Plasmodium spp (Plasmodium falciparum)
Incubation period
10-15 days
Signs and symptoms
Shaking chills that can range from moderate to severe, High fever, Profuse sweating, Headache, Nausea, Vomiting, Abdominal pain, Diarrhea, Anemia, Muscle pain and Convulsions