Plague

Plague General Information

The term of Plague has different meanings in different domains. In medicine, this term refers to a medical condition caused by a microorganism, particularly a bacterium, called yersinia pestis that is transmitted from rodent to rodent (especially rats) by the infected fleas. Other species of rodents include: prairie dogs, squirrels and rabbits. This disease has three important forms of manifestations: bubonic (when it affects the lymph nodes), septicemic (when it affects the blood) and pneumonic (when it affects the lungs) and all have high death rates. Plague in humans involves in house rats and their fleas. This severe bacterial infection is potentially deadly and is sometimes transmitted from human to human, by coughing. Once the flea bites an infected rodent, it becomes infested with the bacteria that are then transmitted to humans. One can get the disease only by handling infected animals, but these cases are rarer.

This type of medical condition can lead to the appearance of massive epidemics all around the world. In the Middle Ages, an epidemic of such kind killed populations. This terrible type of infection is rare in the USA, but it sometimes occurs in areas of New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California and Arizona. The period of incubation (between the time of the infection and the appearance of symptoms) is usually 5 to 15 days, but in the case of the pneumonic form, this period can be shorter (a few hours). Cases of Plague were reported on European continent only after the World War II had finished.

Plague Symptoms

Plague is a world wide spread medical condition that affects hundreds of victims on each continent, except Europe. As any type of infection, this one too presents some specific signs and symptoms that manifest in almost all the victims. They vary in intensity, from mild to really dangerous ones, depending on the form and stage of the medical condition. The bubonic form has signs and symptoms that take the patient by surprise, usually after 3-7 days of exposure to the microorganism (yersinia pestis). In this case, the main symptoms of Plague are: chills, high fever, serious headache, malaise (a general feeling of illness), seizures, intense sweating, and pain of the muscles. The lymph gland swells and becomes painful and smooth. This is called a buboe that usually appears on the neck, groin or armpits.

The period of incubation in the pneumonic case is typically 2-5 days after the exposure to the bacterium. In this case the symptoms are different and include difficulty while breathing, severe cough, weakness and bloody frothy sputum. The septicemic form is the most dangerous one because it causes death even before any obvious manifestation of the disease occurs. For this case of Plague, the signs and symptoms are more numerous and vary depending on the stage of the disorder: nausea and vomiting, pain felt in the abdominal and pelvic area, diarrhea, low pressure of the blood, fever, problems in the clotting of the blood, intense tiredness, dizziness and finally, failure of some major organs, leading to death.

Plague Treatment

Plague is an extremely serious medical condition that demands urgent specialized intervention. It is not very hard to detect because it presents specific signs and symptoms, but because it has a rapid progression, the treatment must be applied immediately after the first signs have appeared. If you start experiencing the symptoms that indicate this disease within a week of being bitten by an unknown insect or flea, traveling to regions from the world that present a high risk, being exposed to dead or only sick animals, having close contact with an animal or person diagnosed with Plague, then we strongly recommend you to seek medical advise as soon as possible because your life is in real danger.

The tests performed in order to diagnose this disorder are very simple and include: lymph node culture, blood culture and culture of sputum. After finding out the exact diagnosis, the patient must be hospitalized and the doctor will proceed immediately with applying the adequate treatment option in order to save the patient’s life. If not discovered in time and without a treatment, more than 50% of those who get Plague eventually die. With the right treatment, the risk of dying is reduced with 10%. Every person diagnosed with this disease needs immediate treatment to avoid death as much as possible. If a patient deals with the pneumonic type, he is isolated from the other patient and monitored very closely. Also, people who have had contact with these patients are strictly and closely observed and receive preventive drug therapy. Other individuals that have been in contact with infected person should be traced, identified and then examined.

The isolation of every patient may be important for preventing the disease to spread, as well as notifying the state health departments. The most common drugs used by the doctors are a series of powerful antibiotics (Gentamycin and Streptomycin are known to be the most effective drugs used to treat Plague). The medicines can be given intravenously (IV, into veins) or into the muscles (intramuscularly) for at least two weeks. Some additional therapy may be preferred in the more advanced cases, for example IV (intravenously) fluids, oxygen or respiratory support. This type of infection can be prevented by keeping yourself away from rodents and by avoiding the epidemic areas. Vaccinations are available for those who live in locations that present high risks of developing Plague, but their effectiveness is questionable.

This kind of infection will probably continue to exist all over the world because only trying to eliminate the rodents means high costs and inutile actions. Specialists try to reduce the threat of infection among humans by public health education, environmental management and preventive drug therapy. This last method is based on administrating intravenous antibiotics, for example different types of Sulfonamides, Vibramycin (Doxycycline), Chloramphenicol (Chloromycetin), Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) or Tetracycline. The patient may present several complications, such as respiratory distress or bleeding problems that could endanger his life. Some asymptomatic cases were reported and the respective individuals received preventive treatment.