NYU Health & Medical Discussion

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IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING WORD LIMIT REQUIREMENTS:

Please note that each and every assignment has its own word limit. 

The CDC’s Morbidity and mortality weekly report (MMWR) is a valuable, accurate and reliable resource in providing information about public health to the general public. The site provides data on the morbidity and mortality rate, a weekly report on publishing health information and recommendations and reports data. The site provided in-depth articles that contain policies on prevention and treatment. The site provides CDC surveillance summaries on distributing, interpreting trends and patterns on findings and provides supplements with information on epidemics and public health. The site provides information in notifiable infectious diseases and conditions and notifiable noninfectious conditions and disease outbreaks. The site provides information for the authors on how to publish their work (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020).

Human rabies found in Utah in 2018, is a report published by the MMWR and it is a descriptive epidemiology study because it describes the issues and depicted were who, where and when the diseases originated. The human rabies is contracted from bats and is preventable if caught early and given antiretroviral medicine (postexposure prophylaxis [PEP]). However, there are cases where individuals die like the 55-year-old man in Utah. The individual symptoms started on October 17-18, when he sought a chiropractor help because of the neck and arm pain, then on October 19 was sent to the emergency room for neck pain, burning and numbing sensation in the right arm, and nuchal muscle spasms. On October 20-21, the patient developed shortness of breath, light headiness, tachypnea, and severe pain. Between October 25 to November 3, the patient’s condition worsens and he became comatose and samples were sent off for testing. However, when the physicians realize it could be human rabies disease it was too late for the PEP and he died on November 4 and his diagnosis was confirmed by the CDC on November 7 ( CDC, 2020).

In this case, it is the first time since 1944 a Utah resident died from human rabies. It was concluded that he was handling several bats that lived in his home’s attic, living room, and master’s bedroom within the week before the onset of his symptoms. The patients’ family who he came in contact with were given PEP. The article stated that 279 healthcare workers and individuals in Utah were potentially exposed, which was confirmed through an online survey where 30 family and community individuals who were exposed received PEP. To prevent such cases in the future educating and bringing awareness to the public on human rabies through bat exposure and providing access to PEP is important (CDC, 2020). It is important that all resources necessary to prevent the spread of human rabies are enforced because rabies causes approximately 59,000 deaths worldwide. The disease is deadly with 1-2 weeks of symptoms onset if PEP is not administered. The disease is transmitted through saliva where 70% are from bats and 28% are from dogs (Pieracci et al., 2019).

Reference

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Human Rabies. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 69(5), 121-124. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6905a1.htm?s_cid=mm6905a1_w

Pieracci, E.G., Pearson, C.M., Wallace, R. M., Blanton, J. D., Whitehouse, E., Ma, X., … Olson, V. (2019). Vital Signs: Trends in Human Rabies Deaths and Exposures – United States, 1938-2018. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 68(23), 524-528. Doi: https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6823e1

Respond to the bold paragraph ABOVE by using one of the option below… in APA format with At least two references and a minimum of 200 words….. .(The List of References should not be older than 2016 and should not be included in the word count.) 

  • Ask a probing question.
  • Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
  • Offer and support an opinion.
  • Validate an idea with your own experience.
  • Make a suggestion.
  • Expand on your colleague’s posting.