Monday, June 7, 2010

Flu

friend,


Welcom...........
to know about flu?


Flu Prevention Strategies
Looking for some flu prevention strategies? There's no denying that a bad case of flu can wipe you with symptoms of fever, congestion, fatigue, and body aches. And, according to the CDC, from 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu each year. More than 200,000 people are hospitalized each year as a result of flu complications, and about 36,000 people actually die from the flu.


A virus that infects the nose, throat, and lungs causes flu. Just like a cold virus, flu is usually spread from one person to the next when the infected person coughs or sneezes. The invincible flu virus is passed from the lungs, throat, or nose of one person through the air to the next unsuspecting person. In addition, when people touch a surface -- or person -- that's contaminated with flu germs and then touch their eyes, nose, or mouth, they infect themselves with the flu virus


What's the best way to prevent flu?
To prevent flu, make sure you and your family members get a flu shot -- the essential key to flu prevention. You need it because there's no cure for the flu -- and flu complications can be really serious in some people, especially infants and young children, elderly adults, and people with heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, and other chronic medical problems.


Other Names:
Antiscorbutic Vitamin, Ascorbate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Calcium Ascorbate, Cevitamic Acid, Iso-Ascorbic Acid, L-Ascorbic Acid, Magnesium Ascorbate, Selenium Ascorbate, Sodium Ascorbate.












VITAMIN C (ASCORBIC ACID)




VITAMIN C (VITAMIN C (ASCORBIC ACID)) OVERVIEW INFORMATION




Vitamin C is a vitamin. Good sources of vitamin C are fresh fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruits. It can also be made in a laboratory.
How does it work?
Vitamin C is required for the proper development and function of many parts of the body. It also plays an important role in maintaining proper immune function.
Vitamin C (VITAMIN C (ASCORBIC ACID)) Side Effects & Safety
Vitamin C is safe for most people when taken by mouth or applied to the skin. In some people, vitamin C might cause nausea, vomiting, heartburn, stomach cramps, headache, and other side effects. The chance of getting these side effects increases the more vitamin C you take. Doses higher than 2000 mg per day might not be safe and may cause a lot of side effects, including kidney stones and severe diarrhea. In people who have had a kidney stone, doses greater than 1000 mg per day greatly increase the risk of kidney stone recurrence.


Vitamin C is likely safe for pregnant or breast-feeding women when taken in the recommended amount of 120 mg per day. Taking too much vitamin C during pregnancy can cause problems for the newborn baby.


Do not take vitamin C in doses greater than those found in basic multivitamins if:
• You have had a heart attack.
• You have had angioplasty, a heart procedure.
• You have cancer.
• You have diabetes.
• You have a blood-iron disorder, including conditions called "thalassemia" and "hemochromatosis."
• You have kidney stones, or a history of kidney stones.
• You have a metabolic deficiency called "glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency" (G6PDD).
• You have a blood disorder called "sickle cell disease."


VITAMIN C (VITAMIN C (ASCORBIC ACID)) DOSING




BY MOUTH:
• For scurvy: 100-250 mg once or twice daily for several days.
• For treating the common cold: 1-3 grams daily.
• For preventing kidney damage related to contrast media used during diagnostic tests: vitamin C 3 grams is given before coronary angiography, and then 2 grams is given after the procedure in the evening and again the following morning.
• For slowing progression of hardening of the arteries: slow-release vitamin C 250 mg in combination with 91 mg (136 IU) of vitamin E twice daily for up to 6 years.
• For tyrosinemia in premature infants on high protein diets: 100 mg of vitamin C.
• For reducing protein in the urine of people with type 2 diabetes: vitamin C 1250 mg with vitamin E 680 IU daily for 4 weeks.
• For preventing complex regional pain syndrome in people with wrist fractures: vitamin C 500 mg daily for 50 days.
The daily recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) are: infants 0 to 12 months, human milk content (older recommendations specified 30-35 mg); children 1 to 3 years, 15 mg; children 4 to 8 years, 25 mg; children 9 to 13 years, 45 mg; adolescents 14 to 18 years, 75 mg for boys and 65 mg for girls; adults age 19 and greater, 90 mg for men and 75 mg for women; pregnancy and lactation: age 18 or younger, 115 mg; ages 19 to 50 years, 120 mg. People who use tobacco should take an additional 35 mg per day. Do not take more than the following amounts of vitamin C: 400 mg per day for children ages 1 to 3 years, 650 mg per day for children 4 to 8 years, 1200 mg per day for children 9 to 13 years, and 1800 mg per day for adolescents and pregnant and breast-feeding women 14 to 18 years, and 2000 mg per day for adults and pregnant and lactating women.


APPLIED TO THE SKIN:


Most topical preparations used for aged or wrinkled skin are applied daily. Studies have used creams containing 5% to 10% vitamin C. In one study, a specific vitamin C formulation (Cellex-C High Potency Serum) used 3 drops applied daily to areas of facial skin. Don’t apply vitamin C preparations to the eye or eyelids. Also avoid contact with hair or clothes. It can cause discoloration.


Kerala school asked to shut down due to swine flu


A private school in this Kerala capital was Friday asked to close down by the district administration after 16 students tested positive for swine flu.


Thiruvananthapuram District Collector Sanjay Kaul directed the management of St Thomas School to shut down for a week. The school has more than 5,000 students enrolled in it.






Amar S. Fettle, the state nodal officer for swine flu, said: “In the past, there have been instances where schools on their own took the decision to shut down, but this is the first time that the state has come up with such a directive.”






“Today, (Friday) a dozen people tested positive in the state taking the total number of affected to 900. The thing is that the health department alone cannot control the spread of the virus. People should rise to the occasion and maintain a civic sense,” Fettle said.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Dengue fever

Dengue fever is a flu kind of illness spread by mosquito bites. Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever are caused by any of the dengue family virus. This is also widely known as 'Break bone fever' due to the severe joint pain caused during the attack. Dengue can be diagnosed by blood test. The infected person as such cannot spread the infection but can be a source to spread it.



Dengue hemorrhagic fever is often complicated and severe. This rather can be termed as a complication dengue fever. Those bitten by the mosquito can get dengue fever and those already infected once if infected again are prone to higher risk of getting dengue hemorrhagic fever.


Dengue is an infectious disease causing frequent epidemics. There are various factors that contribute like lack of effective mosquito control, lack of public health systems to control the epidemic, the increase usage of plastic items which are the breeding sites of the mosquitoes.


Dengue is spread by the bite of an 'Ades' Mosquito. This mosquito bites the infected person and then bites someone else who is not affected thus transmitting the infection. These mosquitoes are active during the day time and spread the infection during day time. These mosquitoes live among human beings and breed in discarded tyres, flower pots, water stores etc.



Dengue fever starts suddenly accompanied by headache, severe joint pain ,rashes, nausea and lack of appetite. The illness can last up to 10 days and the complete recovery could take about four to six weeks. Widely the dengue infections result in relatively mild illness however in some cases it may lead to the dengue hemorrhagic fever. In the complicated stage the blood vessels start to leak and cause bleeding through mouth, nose and gums. This is most prevalent among children and young adults. This stage requires closTreatment for Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic fever


As far as the treatment is concerned there is no specific course, However the affected person is treated with Paracetamol to bring down the fever. The person is usually adviced to drink lots of fluids. The infected person should be isolated until recovery from the rest of the family to prevent further infections.


Although there is no vaccine to prevent this epidemic certain preventive measures as specified below can be taken to control the epidemic.

Preventive Measures to control Dengue Fever

Use mosquito repellents.


• discard all unwanted items getting gathered around the living area to avoid the breeding of mosquitoes.


• Keep the water stores clean and closed.


• keep yourself well covered when outside.


• Take prompt medical advice once fever starts.



Preventing communicable diseases

An infectious diseases is scientifically proven disease caused by microbes that are pathogens (called as pathogenic microbial agents). These are of multiple types.


• Pathogenic bacteria, causes diseases such as plague, anthrax and tuberculosis


• Protozoa,causing diseases like malaria, toxoplasmosis and sleeping sickness


• Fungi, causes infections like ringworm, candidiasis or toxoplasmosis


• Pathogenic viruses cause diseases like influenza, yellow fever or AIDS, which are basically not living organisms and are not microorganisms


These agents can cause diseases in animals or plants or both. These are usually qualified as communicable diseases ( also called contageous diseases) as they have the capabilities of transmission from one person to many others.
                                                                     Conntact Us