discussio questions

Module
5- Discussion initial post must be 250 words. Please site all
references used. Please keep them separated

Outbreaks of viral disease are a continuing
threat in the United States as well as abroad. The Centers for Disease control
and other international agencies devote considerable resources to surveillance
and detection programs as well as advancement of communicable disease
prevention and mitigation measures. Preventing outbreaks is the ultimate goal,
but establishing protocols that ensure preparedness in the event of an outbreak
is also important. For this discussion you have an opportunity to characterize
key features of a virus with epidemic or even pandemic potential and chose one
disease you feel would be best suited for significant research and pre-emptive
efforts.

Before beginning this discussion, please view
the documentary the “Age of Viruses”:

The Age of
Viruses (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Video,
50:39 mins)

This video introduces you to some of the major
challenges facing scientists and medical professionals as they try to combat
emerging, highly infectious, and resistant viral diseases.

When you watch the video, make note of where
many of these diseases emerge and how they emerge. Many emerging infectious
diseases are zoonotic diseases and tracking down viral origins and reservoirs
can be challenging. This video illustrates both the tremendous strides we have
made in our understanding of viruses and how fragile humankind remains in the
face of infectious agents. Keep the following questions on hand as you view the
video.

1.What are the attributes of a particularly dangerous emerging
infectious disease?

2.What features of modern society influence dissemination of viral
diseases of this nature?

Using the information you learned from the
readings and videos you have reviewed this week to support your answers,
address these questions in your discussion post.

1.If you were in charge of distributing one-hundred million
dollars in research funds but could only chose one viral disease to provide
for, which disease would you endow and why?

2.How do you think the medical and scientific community should use
your millions?

Module
6-Discussion initial post must be 250 words. Please site all references used

There
is growing concern among health officials that infectious disease outbreaks are
on the rise and will continue to escalate in the United States. This upsurge is
not due to climate change, globalization, zoonotic pathogens jumping species or
antibiotic resistance. It is due to a rising number of parents electing not to
vaccinate their children because they are questioning the safety of the
vaccines. The evidence and the science of immunization are not adequately or
effectively communicated by public health officials. Both factors contribute to
this emergent health issue. The Frontline program you will watch
presents both sides of the debate. You are then asked to use the knowledge
acquired from the video and the module readings as well as your critical
thinking skills to communicate the science supporting compulsory (with
exceptions) childhood vaccinations to a young mother. You are challenged to
defend and discuss immunization in the face of powerful social media and
internet campaigns, public distrust of science and an absent historical memory
of deadly, disfiguring and socially disruptive infectious diseases. Are you up
for the challenge?

Please
view the Frontline special, The Vaccine War (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video
file][56:33 mins]. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Retrieved August 1, 2017,
from Academic Video Online: Premium. (Use Firefox or Chrome to view the
video)

The
scenario:
A young mother rushes her four month old infant to the hospital emergency
department and reports her infant gasping for air due to an asthma attack. An
ED nurse evaluates the infant and questions the mother. The infant is cyanotic,
irritable and experiencing a paroxysmal cough. The infant’s temperature is
taken and noted as 103.8°F. The mother reveals the infant has been experiencing
a cough and congestion for two weeks or more. The infant was born at home and
has not been seen by a family practitioner or pediatrician to date. The infant
has been exposed to neighborhood children ill with a mild cough. Chest x-rays
are taken and blood samples are analyzed. The laboratory results indicate a
highly elevated leukocyte count. Pronounced pneumonia is evident in the radiograph.
In your post address the following:

·Explain (and justify) to the infant’s mother that this is not an
asthma attack and identify the likely infectious agent.

·Explain that this is a vaccine-preventable disease and explain
how vaccines prevent disease.

Discuss, with at least two of your classmates,
reasons this mother chose not to get her child vaccinated and ways to
effectively counter her motives with evidence and empathy.