While discussing a particular infectious disease from the rest of other STDs as Tetanus, small pox, syphilis, and Tuberculosis, care has been taken to describe the disease in the perspective of the below factors: 1. Epidemiologic Triad Model: Elucidating via the agent, host and environmental factors that influence the development of disease. 2. The chain of infection including how it is transmitted. 3. The disease incidence and explain whether it is “reportable” to state and federal agencies.
Also described in this article are associated features as: a vaccine that is an apt Syphilis treatment option; the procedures employed to confirm the syphilis infection; typical clinical course for the patient infected with this disease. The second part of this research paper discusses a comprehensive plan for the prevention of Syphilis in communities today. Another very special feature of this paper is the addition of definitions of the related medical terms, in the start of the paper. Infectious Disease Definitions Infection: The penetration of body tissue by disease-producing organisms. 2.
The area affected by the injurious organisms. Infectious: 1. Carrying or causing infection. 2. Communicable by infection, as diseases. 3. Contagious Epidemic: 1. Common to or affecting a whole people, or a great number in a community at the same time, as a contagious disease; widely prevalent. 2. An occurrence of an epidemic disease. 3. Any outbreak that spreads or increases rapidly. Contagious: Causing or involving contagion Contagion: 1. A communication of disease by direct or indirect contact. 2. The medium by which a contagious disease is transmitted. 3. Hence a disease so communicated.
Epidemiology: is the branch of medical science, which deals with the study and control of epidemic diseases. (New Webster’s Medical Dictionary) About the STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) in General– Introduction A sexually transmitted disease for short STD is a disease which originates basically from a sexual intercourse. Several kinds of germs, viruses and bacteria cause STD’s. Another name for the STD in medical term is ‘Venereal Disease’. The Venereal Diseases (STD’s) are a major threat to health all over the world. The common STD, which affects nearly 4 million people in the USA each year, is the Chlamydia (bacterial).
Women infected with Chlamydia can be led to infertility because of pelvic inflammation due to this disease. Another common STD is the HIV, a virus which causes the fatal disease called AIDS. Some other notable STD’s are: 1. Gonorrhea 2. Genital herpes, and 3. Syphilis. We shall discuss the infectious disease ‘Syphilis’ in the ensuing paragraphs, which is the scope of our study in this paper. (Jonathan M. Zenilman, n. p. n. d. ) How STD’s are Transmitted STD’s are spread near completely via sexual contact with an infected person. Mainly germs that cause STD’s die rapidly external human body.
Due to this, STD’s are not transmitted via infected things, for instance eating utensils, towels, and toilet seats; or from casual contact, such as swimming in the same swimming pool, coughing, sneezing. From a contaminated pregnant woman to her infant, most of the general STD’s can be transmitted Transmission might take place as the fetus increases within the uterus or through childbirth and can cause difficulties for both the woman and the child. (Janet N. A. , n. p. n. d. ) Factors Responsible for the spread of STD’s A person possibility of becoming victim with an STD depends on multiple factors.
From all communal and financial backgrounds, STD’s can have an effect on people. Those people who start sexual activities from early age, keep several sex partners, or connect in sexual intercourse with high-risk persons, such as prostitutes have the greatest amount of risk. Cultural influence and values often engage the sexual manner of individuals and therefore persuade their chance of STD infection. Change in social and sexual traditions have participated to a greater risk of STD’s in the United States. These changes are i. An impressive increase in before marriage sexual intercourse.
ii. A lessening in the average age at which persons first have intercourse. iii. Developed acceptance ratio of having other than one sex partner. iv. To an increase in the number of sexually lively people in risk of becoming contaminated with an STD. All these above changes have contributed. v. Although, sexual activities in various groups became more precautious because of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Inside each society, there are individuals whose sexual activity makes them very much likely to be contaminated with an STD and to spread it to others.
STD-infected people also like to delay seeking cure for their complaint of disease. Because they either don’t have or don’t be aware of the signs, they do not discuss with a doctor directly. Some people don’t consult a doctor for the reason that they do not have contact to sound medical treatment. Lack of educational and poverty and financial opportunities are connected with high numbers of sexually transmitted diseases. Natural factors also can have an effect on a person’s risk of STD virus. Persons with genital ulcers might be weaker than others to infection with HIV, the disease that grounds AIDS.
Additionally, a few STD-causing organisms become resistant to the medicines consumed for cure, hard efforts to resist the spread of the STD. For instance, a few types of the bacterium that causes gonorrhea have become resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics which are usually used to take care of this disease. (Janet N. A. , n. p. n. d. ) Note: But before we discuss Syphilis, it is important that we first understand how this infectious disease can be described in terms of “Epidemiologic Triad Model”. Epidemiologic Triad Model of Infectious Disease
Epidemiology, which is already defined (above) as the study that deals with the control of epidemic disease, is mainly concerned with the determinants of health and diseases, morbidity, injuries, and mortality. It also relates to: a) The Description of the health-status of the people in general. b) The explanation of the etiology of disease. c) Envisaging the occurrence of disease d) Controlling the spread of disease The Causation The traditional triangle pertaining Epidemiologic Triad Model identifies three factors in the mode of production or development of a disease. The commonly known three factors are:
1. The Host Factor (disease activated from unapparent, susceptible infection on exposure) 2. The Agent Factor (presence of external Microbial Agents for infection to occur) 3. The Environment Factor (the medium in which disease-fostering agents nourish and survive) (Introduction to Epidemiology, n. p. n. d. ) About Syphilis Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can become extremely dangerous if not treated in time. This infectious disease Syphilis is caused by a spirochete type of bacteria called ‘Treponema Pallidum’. This bacterium takes birth during a close intimate sexual activity.
If not treated properly the Syphilis rapidly develops and spreads through the below three stages: 1. The Primary Stage 2. The Secondary Stage, and 3. The Tertiary or the late Stage. A long un-noticed and a hidden period, accompanied by the complete dearth of symptoms, usually occur between the above mentioned 2nd and 3rd stages. But the primary stage in syphilis occurs within about 10 days to 3 months after the infection has taken place. Initially it appears in the form of a small, red pimple at the infected place of the body. Then this pimple soon expands into Chancre which is a kind of sore.
Since the chancre is often painless, there are great chances that it may go unnoticed. And after about 6 weeks, the sore gets vanished. The Secondary syphilis normally starts about 2 to 8 weeks after the chancre disappears. This stage is accompanied by the appearance of a rash. The rash usually appear at the palms and the soles of the feet. The person affected by syphilis also shows symptoms as headache, fever, and loss of hair. But these symptoms normally disappear in a few weeks time. During the hidden period of disease, infection can be traced through a blood test.
If the infection goes unnoticed, syphilis later may grow up to graver and irreversible status in the later life of the patient. In this final stage, the syphilis may attack the heart, brain, skin, spinal cord and even bones in some cases causing, mental illness, blindness, dementia, deafness, heart problems, paralysis, and deformity in the bones. A pregnant woman infected with syphilis can also transmit this infectious disease to her child yet unborn. As a result many still-births occur. Also a child born alive can also symptoms of deafness, blindness, mental retardation and abnormal growth in the bones.
Syphilis is diagnosed through the blood test as well as by discovering the presence of ‘Treponema pallidum’ within the sores. Syphilis is best treated with penicillin so also with other antibiotics. Penicillin readily and most efficiently cures syphilis if dispensed at an early stage of the disease. But if given later, antibiotics do prevent the further development of complications of late syphilis. (Janet N. A. , n. p. n. d. ) Agent that influence the development of Syphilis It is Treponema pallidum which is the core agent that causes Syphilis to be transmitted.
It is also called a ‘stealth pathogen’ because of its need of surface proteins and it is because of this lack of proteins that the formation of a vaccine is not possible. Therefore the Treponemes depend greatly on their host. The Treponema Pallidum, the deeply researched treponeme and the chief causative agent for syphilis , is a complete parasite and cannot survive on its own beyond the host simply because does not possesss the capability to synthesize fundamental nutrients, with the result that it always has a constant need to get nutrients from its host in order to exist.
It was found from repeated research that it is Treponema Pallidum which is the only agent responsible for infecting all the tissues. Syphilis is a comparatively a gradually evolving and rather a painless disease accompanied by long asymptomatic periods followed by short symptomatic periods. During these changing periods, the organism finds opportunity to multiply spontaneously. The First Stage The first stage of the disease happens between 10 to 90 days after the occurrence of infection and is recognized rather confirmed by the appearance of a chancre on the genitals.
The sore abounds with treponemes and thus is extremely contagious. The Second Stage The second stage of the disease occurs after the latency period (undiscovered time) of about 2 to 24 weeks, and is recognized by a rash occurring on the palms and soles of the feet towards the trunk. The rash may continue to be seen up to 2 to 6 weeks. The period of latency that follows the second stage can last over the years, while the infectious disease continues to spread into each and every organ of the body. (Fraser, Claire M. n. p. n. d. )