Dengue Fever

 As summer is approaching, with the temperature on the rise we begin to see more insects appearing. Mosquitoes are one of many insects we want to stay away from,  as one bite can cause our skin surface to become extremely itchy. Even though it may last for a week and disappear.

But, did you know some mosquito bites can transmit viral particles into your blood stream and cause a disease such as:

Yellow fever, West Nile, Japanese Enecephalitis, or Dengue Fever

Dengue fever is a viral disease and has recently caused the most deaths worldwide than any other arbovirus. This virus is a ssRNA with a positive sense of 5'-3' can directly translate into the dengue viruses. The dengue virus can trigger one of four different serotypes, which are closely related (Figure 1 illustrates the movement of serotypes over the years).

With over 2,600 species of mosquitoes worldwide, only two species of mosquitoes can transmit the dengue virus: Aedes aegypti and albopictus. Once, the dengue virus has completely replicated an onset of symptoms occurs. Which can be fatal if not treated in a timely manner. Symptoms commonly seen are: flu-like symptoms, rashes, internal bleeding, organ failure, and much more. Therefore, patients must primarily undergo symptomatic treatments in order to maintain their fluids and imbalanced white blood cells.

Now for prevention, currently there are no vaccines for Dengue fever. Therefore, simple preventative steps should be followed in prevalent areas for this disease.

Simple steps include:  

1) remove standing water

2) use insect repellent

3) wear clothing covering most parts of the body

Summer mosquito season is coming up, those mosquitoes are going start biting us humans. Although, most likely you would not catch the dengue virus on the northeast coast of the United States. But cases of west nile, have been recorded in areas of the northeast. So, for safety precautions before leaving the house do not forgot to spray insect repellent!

Eye Infections

Your eyes are the most sensitive area on your face. Therefore, one needs to be cautious of what comes in contact with their eyes. Not being cautious may lead to an infection.
What can lead to eye infections?
Contaminated water, contacts, eye cosmetic, etc

When individuals apply makeup, it is to enhance their appearance. But, did you know one can contract an eye infection with improper usage ? If a bacteria comes in contact with the eye membrane, cornea, glands or if staphylococcus bacteria contaminates a product; infections such as: conjunctivitis, keratitis, style or blephartits can occur. Conjunctivitis, commonly known as pink eye, causes the enlargement of small red blood vessels. Keratitis, also known as corneal infection, commonly occurs when contacts lenses are contaiminated by makeup bacteria. The meibomian glands can trap bacteria oils from cosmetic products, causing an infection called stye. Lastly, an eyelid infection called Blepharitis causes light sensitivity, blurred vision, eye discharge, pain and redness of the eye.

Ways to minimizes the result of an infection are: do not share products, clean applicators, throw out expired products and beware of certain ingredients that have high heavy metal contents.
Contaminated water from swimming pool, ocean, lake, etc., can also lead to a conjunctivitis infection, such as a adenovirus or Herpes simplex virus. Adenovirus strain causes the inflammation of conjunctiva in both eyes. Herpes simplex virus causes the inflammation of conjunctiva in one eye.
Now, all of these infections: conjunctivitis, keratitis, style, and blephartis are preventable by following certain steps. But, if left untreated infection may lead to life changing outcomes, such as becoming blind!

Valley Fever

You enter a hospital with an unknown disease, within a short period of time the physician is able to give you an intra-oral or topical treatment. But, what you may not know is; to confirm the diagnosis, samples are sent to the lab for a series a tests to confirm and determine the diagnosis. From culturing, smears, molecular test and much more. Finally the result are sent back and the physician determines the treatment.

Coccidiodomycosis commonly known as Valley Fever, a disease contracted through inhaling airborne fungus spores of Cooccidiidies immitis. In order to ensure that the patient has this fungus caused disease, several laboratory test can be completed. Routine sputum culturing, can diagnosis this disease with secretion from the lungs/ bronchi (mucus from lower airways), placed in a medium and grown under certain conditions. Coccidioides immitis takes around 3-5 days of the inoculation. When culturing the morphology appearances of the colonies are white and cottony mold; which is not sufficient for detection because other organisms have similar mycelial forms. In order to culture and have a definitive identification of the colonies it can take up to 3 weeks( too long). Coccidioides is highly contagious; culturing should only occur in a biosafety level 3(Medscape). Therefore Sputum smears viewed under a microscope slide is more relevant, detecting fungus parts with an addition of KOH (CFW fluorescent stain). High blood levels of IgG can help determine the extent of the disease. The most accurate and rapid method to isolate Coccidioides immitis is through a Molecular technique of PCR assay; which can detect the genetic material of the fungus directly in clinical specimens (Saubolle, 2007).

Perfect Body

              Vs.

                                        

As summer is approaching everyone wants to obtain that "perfect body". From people exercising non stop to others ingesting a simple diet pill everyday.
Now, I know you have seen those infomercials claiming "take a pill a day and drop 20 lbs in a month." But, the main concern is that most over-the-counter pills are not FDA approve (meaning they don't have to prove that they are effective or safe). The idea of diet pills are that they are supposed to stimulate your metabolism so you don’t gain weight. Although in some studies they prove that those pills do work, but many people abuse the uses, causing majors side effects:

1) dizziness
2) bloating,
3) heart palpitations
4) muscle cramps
5) oily diarrhea
6) damage to liver or kidneys
7) insomnia

According to various journals, certain ingredients found in some diet pills may be linked to health conditions:
1) Orlistat ( fat blocking, liver damage)
2) Fen-Phen (which is a combination of the phentemine and fenflurmine, which can cause severe heart valve damage and lung problems)

But, is it the healthiest way? In my opinion, a more natural approach of dieting is to do cardio and strength exercises along with the intake of less calories is the way the to go. You can naturally lose weight and build muscle in a healthy manner as opposed to people just taking a pill with little to no exercise.
Start now!

Resistance

You may have heard that the usage of hand sanitizer can lead to a resistance to harmful bacteria or viruses? Well, the statement above is a misconception, hand sanitizers do not form a resistance to harmful bacteria or viruses.

But, the case of antibiotics resistance developing is real and poses a major threat. Although antibiotics are widely available and you may think that if one antibiotic is unavailable another one can takes its place.  Unfortunately, certain infections can only be treated with one type of antibiotic. From many studies, 25,000 deaths per year are caused by antibiotics resistance. Such bacteria and viruses include: MRSA, VRE, food borne bacteria, CRE, MDR and many more!

A medical chief from England stated that if we humans do not act now; suppose in 20 years you have a minor surgery done. Instead of recovering smoothly, an infection forms that cannot be treated and leads to death because of antibiotic given is no longer effective in the human body(antibiotic resistance).

Now, you are probably wondering how does an antibiotic resistance develop?
There are two main causes: Mutation or Gene transfer. Gene transfer is a lateral swapping of genes instead, vertically of passing of genes from a parent. Gene transfer is broken down into 3 parts: Transformation, transduction and conjugation( below illustrates gene transfer).
                                     
Once the resistance develops within the cell, the main mechanisms that occurs:
1) Enzymes degrade the antibiotics ( looses function)
2) Enzymes can change the role of the antibiotic ( looses function)
3) An efflux pump attaches to the cell and pumps out all the antibiotic in the cell
4) Entry portal for the antibiotics is decreased
                                              
Now, do you realize the major threats of antibiotic resistance?
Although the process seems complicated, there are certain approaches to prevent resistance that WE can follow now:
Do not abuse the usage of antibiotic when not needed and always follow doctors orders (the the length of time, dosage, etc). More ways of preventing antibiotic resistances.

Sources:
1) Payne, David, Michael Gwynn, David Pompliano, and David Holmes. "Drugs for Bad Bugs: Confronting the Challenges of Antibacterial Discovery." Nature. Nature Publishing Group, Jan. 2007. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
2) Kelland, Kelly. "Antibiotic Resistance Poses 'Catastrophic Threat' To Medicine, Says Britain's Top Health Official." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
3) Todar, Kenneth. "Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics." Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics. N.p., 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2013

Not so perfect skin

Have you ever gotten out of bed and noticed a red bump on your face? Your first instinct is to get rid of the pimple as soon as possible. But, have you ever wondered what caused the pimple to arise? More than 80% of Americans have experienced acne at one point in their lives.

If you were to look at the cross sectional of an epidermis it is broken down into 3 main layers; epidermis, dermis and the subcutaneous layer. One of the main causes of acne is when the sebaceous glands produce too much sebum (oil) it creates a blockage where bacteria can form; such as Propionibacterium acnes and much more.

From a study taken place at the University of California, researchers examined around 100 participants all with a same amount of the P.acnes living within their pores. They genomically analyzed the microbial DNA(genetic makeup), which helped distinguish 3 different strains: RT4, RT5 and RT6. An interesting discovery was found, strains RT4 and RT5 were found in the majority of participants with acne and strain RT6 were found to be within participants with clear skin. RT6 strain contains a gene known to fight off harmful microbes.

Which strain do you have? Although other factors such as hormones, genetics, and lifestyle can cause acne, one step to achieve perfect skin is to cleanse your face on a daily basis. This allows the removal of dead skin cells on epidermis layer to prevent blockage and cleans away the build up of sebum in the Dermis layer.



Sources:
1)"How Does Acne Work?" Discovery Health. N.p., 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.
2)Fitz-Gibbon, Sorel, Shuta Tomida, Bor-Han Chiu, and Lin Nguyen. "Propionibacterium Acnes 
Strain Populations in the Human Skin Microbiome Associated with Acne."Journal of 
Investigative Dermatology. Nature Publishing Group, 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013
3)Telis, Gisela. "Got Pimples? You May Need Better Bacteria." Science NOW, 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 
16 Mar. 2013.