EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS

How do they pertain to the 21st century?

Megan Godfrey

WHAT ARE THEY?

Epidemics rapid spread of something, usually an illness

Pandemics occur over a wide geographic area

http://media.bonnint.net/slc/123/12370/1237071.jpg http://www.soxfirst.com/50226711/pandemic.jpg

WHY WE’RE AT RISK...

Microbes change their genes or mutate, each time they reproduce

Enables them to adapt easier and jump between plants, animals, and humans

During this process, new and lethal microorganisms are created

They are then able to rapidly spread and kill humans

Growing population increases international trade and travel, this can create new diseases

International airline passengers have increased from 200 million in 1950 to 4 billion in 2005

CONTINUED... Disease experts say that international travel allows

infectious disease to spread more quickly than in the past

Today, by the time a disease outbreak is discovered its a good chance that it has already spread to other places

The changes in food production cause more disease Many food products are grown or manufactured in

large quantities, when contamination does occur, it affects many people

Factory farms 10’s of thousands animals raised in crowded, unsanitary conditions

Global trade widens the reach of infectious disease

Can be used as weapons

EXAMPLES OF EPIDEMICS & PANDEMICS

Avian Flu (Bird Flu)• the Avian Virus has the potential to be the cause

of the next deadly flu pandemic• Unsanitary conditions where avian species gather

(food and poultry markets) spread virus• Evidence that it can spread from human to

human• 14 months following December 2003, there were

97 confirmed cases of the avian virus, 53 of the 97 people infected died

http://www.ambhanoi.um.dk/NR/rdonlyres/1B354EDA-F7A1-4780-AAEC8984CF4DCD93/0/birdflu.jpg

AIDS• Life expectancies in HIV/AIDS affected

countries are going to decline• By 2010, many countries in southern Africa

are expected to have life expectancies falling to near 30 years of age

• Median survival time with AIDS is estimated to be around 10 years

• In the past year the epidemic in Africa has claimed the lives of approx. 1.5 million people

• More than 11 million children have been orphaned because of AIDS

http://www.avert.org/aids-picture.php?photo_id=426

Cholera• Acute intestinal infection caused by

contaminated food or water• In Zimbabwe there are 16,700 cases so far• There have been 750 cases and 11 deaths in

South Africa as it is spreading• When the rainy season hits, expecting a

massive increase to around 60,000 cases

http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/zimbabwe/2460?source=13215&gclid=CNKP7dGDvpcCFRHxDAodIkbTTA

Type II Diabetes in children and young adults• Changed from a disease older people had to a

disease of children• It’s due to the combination of insulin resistance

and relative b-cell failure• Most children who develop type II diabetes have

a family member with it• Most significant risk factor is obesity• Currently 15-20% of American teens are

overweight• 5 million children are• Diabetes occurs in children who are inactive • Computer games and TV has contributed to type

II diabetes • Major public health problem, diabetes costs

nation more than $100 billion per year

IN CONCLUSION

There are many epidemics and pandemics present in the 21st century and with the increase in laziness, fast foods, population, changes in food production, and international trade and travel the risk for more epidemics and pandemics will only increase.

Kanabus, A. (2008, November 8). HIV and AIDS in Africa. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from http://www.avert.org/aafrica.htm

Miller, Debra A. (2007). Pandemics. Michigan: Thomson Gale.

________. Responding to Zimbabwe’s Cholera Epidemic. (2008, December 10). Mercy Corps. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/zimbabwe/

Sfakianos, Jeffery, N.(2006). Avian Flu. New York: Infobase Publishing.

_______. Type 2 Diabetes in Children and Young Adults: A "New Epidemic". (2002). Clinical Diabetes. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from http://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/20/4/217

_______. Zimbabwe's Cholera Epidemic "far from over". (2008, December 13). China View. Retrieved December 13, 2008, from http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/13/content_10499742.htm