Emerging and re-emerging diseases

Question 1

What is the Zika virus?

Answer 1

A virus that comes from the flavivirus genus, it is related to yellow fever and west Nile virus. It is an enveloped and icosahedral shape, a non-segmented, single strand, positive-sense RNA genome. It is transmitted through infected mosquitoes and presents symptoms such as fever, rash, joint pain, headache etc. It is most dangerous when a pregnant female gets infected as it can cause birth defects such as microcephaly

Question 2

What are some re-emerging diseases?

Answer 2

TB, malaria, anthrax

Question 3

What makes TB a re-emerging disease?

Answer 3

Genetic variation, recombination and adaptations, war and famine, poverty, bioterrorism. Treatment is to start the patient off with 4 different antibiotics to maximise efficacy of the drug, but it tends to make the patient rather poorly

Question 4

Why has malaria become a re-emerging disease?

Answer 4

As it mainly affects populations living in poverty, those without adequate sanitation and ion close contact with infectious vectors. Also there hasn’t been any new insecticides for approx 20 years, so the parasite has built up a resistance