Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4.
Engage all care providers
. Tuberculosis patients seek services from many
different sectors of public and private healthcare providers. Training all
health care workers to identify and handle patients with TB is important to
ensuring that care can be delivered at a high quality at multiple levels.
5.
Empower people with TB, and communities
. Nonmedical communities can
take responsibility of some aspects of TB care and prevention. Due to
the large number of persons infected with tuberculosis, treating infected
individuals with respect and civility is in the best interests of all par-
ties. Networks of civil society and community organizations are crucial to
promoting and sustaining political support for control programs.
6.
Enable and promote research
. New diagnostics, medications and preven-
tion strategies will be needed in the coming decades to continue the fight
against tuberculosis.
Although the WHO plan focuses on treatment, environmental engineers have
played a role in the prevention of tuberculosis. For example, the Water and Envi-
ronmental Engineering Research Group at the University of Leeds in the United
Kingdom have created a system for ultraviolet inactivation of
mycobacterium
tuberculosis
and other airborne pathogens in hospitals. Commercial airliner envi-
ronmental control systems are also being developed to prevent transmission
among air travel passengers.
Influenza
Seasonal influenza
occurs annually and is caused by a virus. It is an
acute respiratory infection characterized by sore throat, fever, cough, headache,
body pains, and prostration; it is spread via virus-laden droplets that are expec-
torated from the respiratory tract by infected patients. While influenza is usually
self-limiting (naturally cleared by the body in 2 to 7 days), those with weakened
immune systems, such as the elderly, are at risk of death.
The difficulty in controlling influenza stems from the genetic variability that is
intrinsic to the family of viruses. Influenza is characterized by two main surface
glycoproteins hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Dozens of variations
in these glycoproteins are known; the swapping (or “reassortment”) of the genes
encoding these glycoproteins gives rise to strains of differing pathogenic qual-
ity. Showing the interconnectedness of human and animal health, much of the
reassortment occurs in birds and pigs, from which humans are newly infected
each year. The nomenclature of the viral strains specifies which numbered variant
of hemagglutinin or neuraminidase is encoded; common strains include H1N1,
H1N2, and H3N2 viruses, while more virulent strains are H7N7 and H5N1.
Seasonal influenza is preventable with a vaccine, but it must be administered
every year due to the constantly mutating nature of the virus.
60
Vaccination
rates can vary greatly, and the supply of vaccine has been hampered due to
bacterial contamination during the production process. In the United States, there
are thousands of deaths annually due to influenza, mostly among the oldest and
youngest segments of the population.
Pandemic influenza
arises when particularly virulent strains of the influenza
virus emerge as a result of genetic recombination, resulting in widespread
