The world's increasing connectivity is contributing to the spread of disease through travel, hand-to-hand transmission, and through the air that we breathe.
According to the article, "Diseases Go Global", an infected person can carry any disease around the world in less than 36 hours. 36 hours. A day and a half. If that disease was deadly, we would have an epidemic on our hands in less time than it takes to mail a letter.
The Simulated Spread of a Pandemic from Atlanta, Georgia, USA
The Epidemiological Transition Model
If you haven't ever heard of the Epidemiological Transition Model, let me give you some background information. First off, the ETM corresponds to the Demographic Transition Model. As a country develops through the DTM, they will move correspondingly through the ETM.
Stage 1: Age of Pestilence and Famine
Stage 1: Age of Pestilence and Famine
- Involves a lack of stable agriculture, diseases spread by unsanitary conditions, high and unstable death rates, a short life span, and periods of unpredictable population growth.
- In which sanitation becomes more important, some medical advances are made, death rates decline, there is a shift from primarily infectious diseases to chronic diseases, and there is also a shift in population age distribution (due to the declining mortality rates).
- Includes chronic diseases becoming more common (rather than infectious), an increase in life expectancy, even lower mortality rates, and a low total fertility rate (TFR).
- More medical improvements are made. More treatment options are available. Preventative measures, such as vaccines, are now available.
- Diseases grow resistant to our medicine (antibiotic resistance).
CHECK OUT THIS NPR PODCAST ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF NEW INFECTIOUS DISEASES: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19279813
Antibiotic Resistance
Although antibiotic resistance is said to only occur in stage five of the epidemiological transition (which no country has entered yet), this antimicrobial resistance is a problem we are facing today.
Most people don't seem to be aware of the threat that antibiotic resistant diseases have. Ever since MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) showed up, doctors everywhere have been trying to find a stronger solution to this new Staph bacteria. Fortunately, the Staph bacterium responds to antibiotics. Unfortunately, another bacteria has mutated enough so it is resistant to the antibiotic used to cure Staph. This disease is known as MRSA.
How are we going to keep coming up with new antibiotics to cure these mutated diseases? Eventually, scientists are going to be too swamped with diseases to handle all of them. If (and when) these diseases are spread worldwide, the human population's demise can't be too far off.
One of the most disease-potent areas is, surprisingly, a hospital. With all of the germs swarming around, no matter how much surfaces around the hospital are disinfected, there's likely to still be germs lingering. Then there is the matter of over-disinfecting. When bacteria are exposed to disinfectant on an hourly basis, there is a good chance that it will start to become resistant to the disinfectant. This is when trouble begins. Bacteria mutate. Germs spread. People with weak immune systems get infected. Old antibiotics are no longer effective. People die.
Of course, there will always be the new breakthrough treatment, but how long is that treatment going to work until the bacteria mutate again? How long can the doctors hold them off? What can we, as a human population, do to stop this worldwide spread of disease? Can we do anything? Mass antibiotic resistance is just one major problem we are going to have to face in the near future if all of these diseases continue to be globalized.
Most people don't seem to be aware of the threat that antibiotic resistant diseases have. Ever since MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) showed up, doctors everywhere have been trying to find a stronger solution to this new Staph bacteria. Fortunately, the Staph bacterium responds to antibiotics. Unfortunately, another bacteria has mutated enough so it is resistant to the antibiotic used to cure Staph. This disease is known as MRSA.
How are we going to keep coming up with new antibiotics to cure these mutated diseases? Eventually, scientists are going to be too swamped with diseases to handle all of them. If (and when) these diseases are spread worldwide, the human population's demise can't be too far off.
One of the most disease-potent areas is, surprisingly, a hospital. With all of the germs swarming around, no matter how much surfaces around the hospital are disinfected, there's likely to still be germs lingering. Then there is the matter of over-disinfecting. When bacteria are exposed to disinfectant on an hourly basis, there is a good chance that it will start to become resistant to the disinfectant. This is when trouble begins. Bacteria mutate. Germs spread. People with weak immune systems get infected. Old antibiotics are no longer effective. People die.
Of course, there will always be the new breakthrough treatment, but how long is that treatment going to work until the bacteria mutate again? How long can the doctors hold them off? What can we, as a human population, do to stop this worldwide spread of disease? Can we do anything? Mass antibiotic resistance is just one major problem we are going to have to face in the near future if all of these diseases continue to be globalized.
The Spread Of Germs Through Contact and Through the Air
Take a look at this clip from an episode of The Mythbusters that talks about the hand-to-hand transmission of germs and diseases. I think this video may be a rude awakening for some people who think they are pretty cautious about their hygiene. It's also kind of scary to think that germs can spread all around a room and onto five other people in 30 minutes, from only one infected person. | Check out another clip from The Mythbusters that showcases the spread of germs through the air. Depending on the method of smothering the sneeze, some fluid from the testers' sneezes traveled far enough to cross an entire room. The spread of germs through the air is quite often overlooked, especially if you don't feel anyone sneeze or cough on you. Unfortunately, these germs are still airborne and can travel quite easily. |
Relation to APHG
My topic relates to APHG because it discusses the concept of globalization, development, diffusion, and the epidemiological transition. This relates to chapters 1 through the globalization of disease and space-time compression. It relates to chapter 2 through the demographic transition model and epidemiological transition model. Chapter 3 is migration, which can be a vehicle for diseases to spread. It also connects to chapter 4 and the different types of diffusion. Disease can be spread through contagious and relocation diffusion. Finally, my topic relates to chapter 9 and how development affects the spread of disease.
Explanation of Topic
I chose this topic because I think it's fascinating how fast things can travel across the globe. Space-time compression has created so many interesting results, from being able to send an email and get an instant reply, to being able to travel across the globe in a matter of hours, to having one infected person spread a disease in a couple of days. The piece of research that I found most interesting was that a lot of the diseases that people in more developed countries suffer from today are man-made. Man made these diseases. Why can't man fix them? We dug ourselves into this bottomless pit, and it's going to take a huge effort to dig ourselves out.