Let’s start with a disease that is perhaps the most feared on the planet following a slew of movies depicting its virulence and horrific symptoms.
We are talking about the Ebola virus. Most cases have been in parts of West Africa - 11,310 of which resulted in death out of the 28,616 people that were infected.
That was just in the period from 2013-2016. Cases of Ebola have also been documented in Italy, Mali, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In the USA, 4 cases of Ebola have been recorded, resulting in one death. It’s spread from animals to humans, then further, and easily, spread from human to human. Infection occurs when a person who carries the virus transfers it to another through blood, bodily fluids, or secretions. The first stages of the disease are flu-like symptoms, which often progress to intense vomiting, liver damage, and as the movies like to show internal and external bleeding. It can be treated, but some of those that have died have done so within days of the onset of symptoms. This one could happen to just about anyone. Imagine after chowing down on your favorite seafood dish, within a matter of hours you were dead.
what is cholera?
This is a worst-case scenario if you contract cholera. It’s a water-borne disease that involves the fecal bacteria vibrio cholera. It kills about 42,000 to 142,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization. Estimates are made when cases are believed to go undocumented. In extreme circumstances, the quick loss of fluids and electrolytes could end your life within two hours of showing symptoms. If you survive the two hours, it could be a few more hours, or days, until you die of dehydration and shock. Cholera thrives where there is poor sanitation, but it’s also found in undercooked shellfish that have traveled through infested waters. Those shellfish could then make it onto your plate.
Cholera is rare in industrialized countries, but there are around 1.3 to 4 million cases worldwide each year.
Treatment of cholera and diarrhea
If you find yourself with severe diarrhea, drink lots of oral rehydration solution.
Flesh-eating disease
According to the CDC, 700 to 1100 cases occur each year in the United States, and it has a 26.6 percent mortality rate.
Cause of Flesh-eating disease
The infection could happen after surgery, or more often when the bacteria infect an open wound, burn, or blister. If your body is already fighting another disease or alcoholism, or you are generally frail, you may not have a strong enough immune system to take it on and so it can develop into something nasty.
precautions
The CDC says to keep wounds clean, and if one does suddenly start to excessively throb and hurt, leading to vomiting and fever, get the fastest Uber in town to the nearest hospital.
The most recently reported case was that of Edgar Savisaar an Estonian politician, who lost a leg after being infected in Thailand.
This is a bacterial form of meningitis most common in the very young and also adolescents. It’s such a virulent disease that the USA has implemented enhanced meningococcal surveillance systems to get to it fast if it occurs. Still, half of those that get it die if it’s not treated. Of those who are treated, one in ten to twenty will still succumb to death within 24-48 hours
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