The Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Of The United States

An investigation was necessary to find the cause of the outbreak, and how to stop it from continuing to spread. The campus clinic was interested in testing the following nine patients: Sue, Jill, Anthony, Wanda, Maggie, Maria, Arnie, Marco, and Alvin. All of the students have similar symptoms and agreed to being tested except for Alvin.

Africa has the highest incidence of meningococcal disease, tuberculosis, and malaria because of overcrowding in many villages. There is an area in sub-Saharan Africa called the Meningitis Belt that stretches from Senegal to Ethiopia with over 20,000 reported cases and 2,000 deaths every year (Healthgrades editorial staff, 2015). During the dry season in Africa, from December through June, meningitis epidemics occur with the three major areas infected being Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Chad. The most recent outbreak of the meningococcal disease reported in the United States occurred as meningitis in the dorms at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Princeton University in New Jersey in December of 2013 (Doheny, 2013). When the outbreak occurred at these two universities it was caused from serotype B of the disease and resulted in one death. Since the current meningococcal vaccine does not cover the serotype B bacteria the FDA allowed the use of a special vaccine from New Zealand to treat the outbreaks (Burrell, 2015). One in five US teens have not had their first recommended dose of meningococcal vaccine and for those who have had the first dose of the vaccine,

Introduction: Since 2001, compounded drugs have caused more than 1,000 illnesses, and 87 deaths in the United States (cite 1). All of these unfortunate incidents were caused by errors during the manufacturing of compounded drugs, and in most cases, because of contamination. On the 25th of September 2013, the Drug Quality and Security Act, also known as H.R. 3204, was introduced, and three days later, was passed by the House of Representatives. On the 18th of November, this Act cleared the Senate. On the 27th of September, 2013, President Barack Obama signed the Drug Quality and Security Act into law (cite 2).

A terrible incident happened in Tennessee in 1937 when a drug called Elixir Sulfanilamide was mislabeled and contained toxic quantities of antifreeze that killed over 100 people (FDA's Origin & Functions - FDA History). Before this event, Congress debated substituting the 1906 Act and this instance in Tennessee drove Congress to approve the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 that provided an updated set of standards. Unlike before when the government had to disprove a drug was effective, the new act stated that drugs had to be proven effective before being sold. It not only replaced the Pure Food and Durg Act, but the Sherley Amendment as well (Centennial Edition of FDA Consumer).

The film that I am reviewing, title “The Poisoner’s Handbook,” is based on Deborah Blums best-selling book, of the same title, which reflects on the most notorious cases between the years of 1918 and 1959 that were handled by Charles Norris, the chief medical examiner for New York City, also known and described by his peers as “the father of forensic toxicology in America,” and Alexander Oscar Gettler, toxicologist with the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York, such as the fatal radium poisoning of the factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint at the Orange, New Jersey watch factory around the year 1917 and other cases that involve dangerous poisons, like arsenic, methanol, lead, carbon monoxide, denatured alcohol, radium and thallium. Their renowned work led to tougher regulations by the government and the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. The film depicts how the average American’s medicine cabinet, in the early 1900s, was a treasure chest of dangerous poisons that could make you ill, put you in a coma, and even kill you. These poisons were readily found in health tonics, depilatory creams, teething medicine, and cleaning supplies.

Meningitis, also known as spinal meningitis, is a viral or bacterial infection causing inflammation of the membranes, called meninges. Meninges act as a natural protective barrier that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. When the barrier is permeable, infections are able to transmit a disease in or through and cause serious or even fatal effects. There are different causes for the different categories of meningitis resulting in different symptoms and severities in each.

Meningitis is an infectious disease that can be found within the indigenous Australian community. Incidence and prevalence, when regarding an infectious agent or disease, utilizes measurements to determine new cases and existing cases of a disease process or infectious condition. Mathematical equations are utilized in order to determine and compare the survival or recovery, and duration of diseases ( Stanhope & Lancaster, 2011).The incidence and prevalence of meningitis in the indigenous Australian people, is higher in the rural areas then in the larger regions of Australia due to lack of access to vaccinations, and compliance with treatment. As noted via the meningococcal Australia INC

Making hand washing a habit. Wash hands with soap and water after potential contact with human feces, handling pets, after gardening or contact with soil, before and after food handling, before and after having intercourse. Use alcohol-based cleansers such as hand sanitizers or disinfectants may also be used but not recommended for C.diff spores. Be extra careful with drinking water especially when you go out of the country. Use of proper attire when traveling and going to the mountains to protect self from unwanted animal bites. Make sure that you eat meat that was cooked thoroughly and uncontaminated to avoid food poisoning. Also get vaccines

The Milwaukee outbreak was evaluated using the results from the stool samples conducted in fourteen clinical labs between March 1 and April 16, 1993 (McKenzie et al., 1994). The study showed no increased in bacterial enteric pathogens. It also showed, before the outbreak, that only 42 Cryptosporidium tested were conducted during the period from March 1 and April 16. However, after the outbreak 1000 Cryptosporidium tests were conducted in a period of seven days (McKenzie et al., 1994). “During each of these intervals, about one-third of sampled tested were positive for Cryptosporidium” (McKenzie et al., 1994). “The percentage of positive Cryptosporidium tests were similar to that of the Carrollton events, which had a rate of 39 percent. These

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has recently noted several model antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains with redesigned capabilities in pathogenesis, transmission and resistance. These several strains, Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter species, have been given the acronym-based title of the ESKAPE Pathogens. These strains of bacteria compromise one of the biggest threats faced by physicians today not because of the infectious and devastating illnesses they lead to, but because of their ability to resist antibiotics in the healthcare setting. Failure for industries, academia and government to cooperate and develop research/development operations has left healthcare providers one-step behind in the fight against these new brands of infectious diseases. A lack of research/development operations has left the healthcare industry with antiquated antibiotics no longer capable of targeting and eradicating these microorganisms in human systems.

She begins with the discovery of the strain S. aureus phage type 80/81, a precursor to MRSA, in 1953, less than a decade after penicillin was released to the public. From there, she describes the emergence of MRSA strains first in hospitals and later in the general population. McKenna continues with the emergence and rise to dominance of the virulent and potentially deadly strain of USA 300. She includes the spread of MRSA to pets, pigs, and even an elephant. She additionally addresses the problems faced by schools and prisons in limiting MRSA’s spread. The history of MRSA includes over sixty years of outbreaks, discoveries, and setbacks. Superbug explicates this long and convoluted history so that it is both understandable and interesting to students interested in

The incident being studied in this report occurred in early June of 2014. Two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) labs were found to be guilty of mishandling biohazardous material, and negligent to following proper safety regulations surrounding the handling of biohazardous material. The result of this was more than 80 employees were exposed to live anthrax pathogens, putting their lives in potential danger. In addition, two strains of flu were accidentally cross contaminated and shipped to another lab, risking the lives of those at the lab who handled it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted the investigations and work was seized immediately in both labs. The specifics surrounding the incident included dangerous

1. What type of agar is used for the growth of these bacteria? The identification of N. meningitides, H. influenza and S. pneumonia can be done through the cytology of CSF and through the specifics of colony morphology on blood or chocolate agar.

N. meningitides bacterium responsible for outbreaks in densely populated areas such as childcare centers, boarding schools, or college living areas (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010). These outbreaks are most common in winter and spring months when risk factors like upper respiratory infections are more likely (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010). Immunosuppression must be present for this pathogen to invade. Other risk factors for meningitis are otitis media (middle ear infection), mastoiditis (mastoid bone infection) (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010), systemic sepsis, sinusitis (sinus infection), basilar skull fractures, and the very young and the very old (Porth & Matfin, 2009).

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, membranes that surround the brain. This can extend as far as infecting the cerebral spinal fluid on top of causing the tissue to swell. Meningitis comes in two major forms; bacterially and virally. However, having bacterial meningitis is much more severe than viral meningitis. There is a lot more danger in having a bacterial infection within the brain than a viral infection within the brain. What makes bacterial meningitis so lethal is that “even when the disease is diagnosed early and adequate treatment is started, 5% to 10% of patients die, typically within 24 to 48 hours after the onset of symptoms. Left untreated, up to 50% of cases may die, (6) or there