10 Tips to Prevent Infections

It may seem a daunting task to keep yourself and your loved ones free of infections. Beyond the obvious—steering clear of runny noses and hacking coughs—you may be wondering about some other practical ways of staying infection-free. Your skin acts as a natural barrier against harmful microbes that cause infections, but smart “bugs” have found alternative routes to get into your body and cause infection. By making a few simple behavioral changes (which ultimately reduce their access into your body), you can easily prevent the spread of many infectious diseases.

1. Wash your hands frequently. Did you know that microbes can live on inert surfaces anywhere from a few minutes to several months? Imagine these disease-causing microbes living on your computer keyboard, your light-switch, or even on the pedestrian-crossing button next to the crosswalk!Surprisingly, most people don’t know the best way to effectively wash their hands. The CDC recommends washing thoroughly and vigorously with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, followed by hand-drying with a paper towel. In the absence of running water, an alcohol-based hand gel or wipe will suffice, although nothing beats good ol’ soap and water. This takes about as long as it does to sing “Happy Birthday”, so some hospitals recommend washing your hands for the duration of this simple tune!
2. Don’t share personal items. Toothbrushes, towels, razors, handkerchiefs, and nail clippers can all be sources of infectious agents (bacteria, viruses, and fungi). In kindergarten, you were taught to share your toys, but keep your hands to yourself. Now try to remember to keep personal items to yourself as well!
3. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. In a similar vein, good personal hygiene includes not only personal cleanliness, but also the age-old practice of covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Why is this important if you aren’t sick? For most infections, the disease-causing microbe has already started growing and dividing long before any symptoms begin to show. Coughing or sneezing can spread these germs through microscopic droplets in the air. The current recommendation is to cover your mouth with your arm, sleeve, or crook of the elbow, rather than using your hands. Read more »

H5N1 (avian / bird flu) pandemic educational information

One of the primary concerns is that the virus could quickly spread across countries as various birds follow their migration routes. In response, countries have begun planning in anticipation of an outbreak. While short-term strategies to deal with an outbreak focus on limiting travel and culling and vaccinating poultry, long-term strategies require substantial changes in the lifestyles of the most at-risk populations.

WHO announced on November, 16, 2005 that an outbreak is most likely to hit the Hong Kong Special Administrative issue by mid-December of this year. “If it were to hit in a highly residential area like Tin Hau, it would be sure to spread like wildfire.” Dr. N Column, Head of Epidemic Prevention announced.

The WHO divides a pandemic into six phases, ranging from minimal risk of an outbreak to full scale pandemic. Most health authorities categorize the situation as of 2005 at Phase 3, by which is meant that human infections of a new sub-type has occurred but there is little evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission.

Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

Avian influenza, or �bird flu�, is a contagious disease of animals caused by viruses that normally infect only birds and, less commonly, pigs. Avian influenza viruses are highly species-specific, but have, on rare occasions, crossed the species barrier to infect humans.

In domestic poultry, infection with avian influenza viruses causes two main forms of disease. The so-called �low pathogenic� form commonly causes only mild symptoms (ruffled feathers, a drop in egg production) and may easily go undetected. The highly pathogenic form is far more dramatic. It spreads very rapidly through poultry flocks, causes disease affecting multiple internal organs, and has a mortality that can approach 100%, often within 48 hours.

Influenza A viruses have 16 H subtypes and 9 N subtypes. Only viruses of the H5 and H7 subtypes are known to cause the highly pathogenic form of the disease. On present understanding, H5 and H7 viruses may circulate and infect poultry flocks in their low pathogenic form. The viruses can then mutate, usually within a few months, into the highly pathogenic form. This is why the presence of an H5 or H7 virus in poultry is always cause for concern, even when the initial signs of infection are mild. Read more »

Rabies

Background
Rabies is a viral disease that affects the CNS. The genus Lyssavirus contains more than 80 viruses. Classic rabies, the focus of this article, is the prototypical human Lyssavirus pathogen. Ten viruses are in the rabies serogroup, most of which only rarely cause human disease. The genus Lyssavirus, rabies serogroup, includes the classic rabies virus, Mokola virus, Duvenhage virus, Obodhiang virus, Kotonkan virus, Rochambeau virus, European bat Lyssavirus types 1 and 2, and Australian bat Lyssavirus. In 1997, an unusual bat Lyssavirus caused a brief outbreak of a rabieslike illness in Australia.

The fatal madness of rabies has been described throughout recorded history, and its association with rabid canines is well known. For centuries, dog bites were treated prophylactically with cautery, unfortunately, with predictable results. In the 19th century, Pasteur developed a vaccine that successfully prevented rabies after inoculation and launched a new era of hope in the management of this uniformly fatal disease. Rabies is recognized as a zoonosis worldwide. Animal-control and vaccination strategies currently supersede postexposure prophylaxis in preventing the spread of rabies. Through such programs, rabies has been eliminated in several nations and some areas in the US territories.

Human rabies reflects the prevalence of animal infection and the extent of contact this population has with humans. Less than 5% of cases in developed nations occur in domesticated dogs; however, unvaccinated dogs serve as the main reservoir worldwide. Undomesticated canines, such as coyotes, wolves, jackals, and foxes, are most prone to rabies and serve as reservoirs. These reservoirs allow rabies to remain an indefinite public health concern, and ongoing public health measures are critical to its control. Raccoons, skunks, and insect-eating bats remain the prime vectors in the United States, followed by cats and cattle. Increasingly in the United States, the source of exposures cannot be identified, but the risk of death from rabies is exceedingly low, with fewer than 5 cases documented per year. Opossums are rarely infected and are not considered a likely risk for exposure. Read more »

History of the Coffee Bean

In the West, most of us have seen such top notch coffee equipment as Bunn coffee makers (high fi commercial coffee machines seldom seen in the third world, not to mention the often more expensive Curtis coffee makers); yet few of us have ever seen a live coffee bush.

Delicious coffee is grown in countries that are blessed with favorable climatic conditions. These nations are situated in the ‘Bean Belt’ and comprise of Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Columbia, Uganda, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Cote d’Ivoire. However, there are several issues surrounding the coffee plantation, for instance, the consumption of water and fertilizers.
The production of coffee is a tedious task involving processing, roasting, grading, decaffeination and storage. The coffee berries are first picked, either by hand or a machine. The green beans are then processed by either of the two methods, dry or wet process. The latter involves fermentation into the process. The beans are sorted and then fermented to remove the slimy layer and are then washed with fresh water and taken for drying. It can be done in a number of ways, drying tables are one. In the other method, the coffee is spread on beds and as a result, air passes through all the sides and then the mixing starts. Another method for drying is to keep them in sunlight or to blow heated air onto the beans using huge cylinders.

The next step of roasting determines the different factors of the coffee bean. The flavor, color, density of a bean, the type of packaging required are all concluded when a bean is roasted. The process of roasting can also be carried out at home. When a bean is roasted, the complex starch in the bean is broken down into simple sugars and the color is changed.