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Withdrawal of the contaminated cooking oil is the most important initial step. Bed rest with leg elevation and a protein-rich diet are useful. Supplements of calcium, antioxidants (vitamin C and E), and thiamine and other B vitamins are commonly used. Corticosteroids and antihistaminics such as promethazine have been advocated by some investigators, but demonstrated efficacy is lacking. Diuretics are used universally but caution must be exercised not to deplete the intravascular volume unless features of frank congestive cardiac failure are present, as oedema is mainly due to increased capillary permeability. Cardiac failure is managed by bed rest, salt restriction, digitalis and diuretics. Pneumonia is treated with appropriate antibiotics. Renal failure may need dialysis therapy and complete clinical recovery is seen. Glaucoma may need operative intervention, but generally responds to medical management.
In some cases the causes of an infection or disease will be obvious (such as fin rot), though in other cases it may be due to water conditions, requiring special testing equipment and chemicals to appropriately adjust the water. Isolating diseased fish can help prevent the spread of infection to healthy fish in the tank. This also allows the use of chemicals or drugs which may damage the nitrogen cycle, plants or chemical filtration of a properly-functioning tank. Other alternatives include short baths in a bucket that contains the treated water. Salt baths can be used as an antiseptic and fungicide, and will not damage beneficial bacteria, though ordinary table salt may contain additives which can harm fish. Alternatives include aquarium salt, Kosher salt or rock salt. Gradually raising the temperature of the tank may kill certain parasites, though some diseased fish may be harmed and certain species can not tolerate high temperatures. Aeration is necessary since less oxygen is dissolved in warm water.
There are a number of effective treatments for many stains of bacterial infections. Three of the most common are tetracycline, penicillin and naladixic acid. Salt baths are another effective treatment.
Disease cures are almost always more expensive and less effective than simple prevention measures. Often precautions involve maintaining a stable aquarium that is adjusted for the specific species of fish that are kept and not over-crowding a tank or over-feeding the fish. Common preventive strategies include avoiding the introduction of infected fish, invertebrates or plants by quarantining new additions before adding them to an established tank, and discarding water from external sources rather than mixing it with clean water. Similarly, foods for herbivorous fish such as lettuce or cucumbers should be washed before being placed in the tank. Containers that do not have water filters or pumps to circulate water can also increase stress to fish. Other stresses on fish and tanks can include certain chemicals, soaps and detergents, and impacts to tank walls causing shock waves that can damage fish.
Epidemic dropsy is a form of edema of extremities due to poisoning by "Argemone mexicana" (Mexican prickly poppy).
Epidemic dropsy is a clinical state resulting from use of edible oils adulterated with "Argemone mexicana" seed oil.
Sanguinarine and dihydrosanguinarine are two major toxic alkaloids of argemone oil, which cause widespread capillary dilatation, proliferation and increased capillary permeability. When mustard oil is adulterated deliberately (as in most cases) or accidentally with argemone oil, proteinuria (specifically loss of albumin) occurs, with a resultant edema as would occur in nephrotic syndrome.
Other major symptoms are pitting edema of extremities, headache, nausea, loose bowels, erythema, glaucoma and breathlessness.
Leakage of the protein-rich plasma component into the extracellular compartment leads to the formation of edema. The haemodynamic consequences of this vascular dilatation and permeability lead to a state of relative hypovolemia with a constant stimulus for fluid and salt conservation by the kidneys. Illness begins with gastroenteric symptoms followed by cutaneous erythema and pigmentation. Respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath and orthopnoea, progressing to frank right-sided congestive cardiac failure, are seen.
Mild to moderate anaemia, hypoproteinaemia, mild to moderate renal azotemia, retinal haemorrhages, and glaucoma are common manifestations. There is no specific therapy. Removal of the adulterated oil and symptomatic treatment of congestive cardiac failure and respiratory symptoms, along with administration of antioxidants and multivitamins, remain the mainstay of treatment.
Epidemic dropsy occurs as an epidemic in places where use of mustard oil, (from the seeds of Brassica "juncea" commonly known as Indian mustard ) as cooking medium is common.
If untreated, pellagra can kill within four or five years. Treatment is with nicotinamide, which has the same vitamin function as niacin and a similar chemical structure, but has lower toxicity. The frequency and amount of nicotinamide administered depends on the degree to which the condition has progressed.
When proper treatment is provided for patients with rat-bite fever, the prognosis is positive. Without treatment, the infection usually resolves on its own, although it may take up to a year to do so. A particular strain of rat-bite fever in the United States can progress and cause serious complications that can be potentially fatal. Before antibiotics were used, many cases resulted in death. If left untreated, streptobacillary rat-bite fever can result in infection in the lining of the heart, covering over the spinal cord and brain, or in the lungs. Any tissue or organ throughout the body may develop an abscess.
Treatment is symptomatic and aims to prevent dehydration in young pigs, using products such as electrolyte and energy supplements. Good biosecurity protocols such as adequate quarantine, isolation of cases, and disinfection help prevent entry or spread of the disease in the herd. In Canada, the Canadian Swine Health Board developed detailed protocols on how to adequately disinfect transportation vehicles for live hogs and ensure the quality of the disinfecttion protocol.
Surgical excision or cryosurgery is the treatment of choice. Treatment with antifungals has been considered ineffective, but the use of clofazimine and dapsone in patients with leprosy and lobomycosis has been found to improve the latter. This treatment regimen, with concomitant itraconazole, has been used to prevent recurrence after surgery.
By the time a disorder reaches the point of causing dropsy, it can often be fatal and at the very least the fish is very ill and requires immediate quarantine and treatment.
Recently published evidence suggest heat stress and strenuous activity-induced cyclic uricosuria and crystalluria as a possible mechanism for the tubular lesion.
Because dropsy is a symptom of an illness, its cause may or may not be contagious. However, it is standard practice to quarantine sick fish to prevent spreading the underlying cause to the other fish in the tank community.
The condition has been found in cats, fish, herons, terrapins and Nile crocodiles, piscivores such as otters, cormorants, Pel's fishing-owls and fish eagles. The disorder is also regularly found in captive-bred animals fed on high fish diets, such as mink, pigs and poultry. It shows as a rubber-like hardening of fat reserves which then become unavailable for normal metabolism, resulting in extreme pain, loss of mobility and death.
The same position supported by the authors of one study developed in El Salvador, but the El Salvadoran study did not find an increased odds ratio for CKD in people exposed to agrochemical products, or direct evidence linking it to pesticides. Other studies from Sri Lanka have showed that chronic exposure of people in agrochemically laden fields to low levels of cadmium through the food chain and also to pesticides could be responsible for significantly higher urinary excretion of cadmium in individuals with CKDu, but urinary cadmium excretion is increased in all forms of CKD, and cadmium nephropathy is highly proteinuric while MeN is not. Based on that hypothetical possibility, Sri Lanka has banned many of these chemicals, and El Salvador has similar legislation pending, waiting for direct evidence linking the disease to the use of agrochemicals in the Mesoamerican region.
The import and production of agrochemicals can be quantified. In addition to the amount of agrochemicals the workflow in which agrochemicals are applied are relevant for the exposure of workers to agrochemical (application with tractor or manual work or application of self-protection measures). CKDu has not been reported among workers laboring under supposedly similar heat stress in other tropical areas of the world, such as Brazil, Cuba or Jamaica, where the same pesticides may not have been used in the same fashion or quantities as in Mesoamerica. However, heat stress measurements have not been assessed in these countries and cannot be compared, and CKD cases could be underreported, just like in the Mesoamerican region before the first description of the disease back in 2002. In any case, there are important differences between these Caribbean and Atlantic countries and the Mesoamerican Pacific coastlands, differences including
- level of agroindustrial mechanization,
- working conditions (access to drinking water and rest in shady spots),
- easy access to NSAIDs without prescription,
- and healthcare accessibility, and
- marked ethnic differences - because the Mesoamerican Pacific Ocean coastland has little or no black ethnicity influence, being mainly Native American "mestizos".
A large (nearly 38,000 workers, 5 year follow up) prospective study from Thailand in 2012 found a 5-fold increased risk (adjusted odds ratio) for CKD in heat stress exposed workers with physical jobs, so the disease could be more prevalent around the globe than first thought, and needs a closer look. The heat stress hypothesis needs to be more deeply considered and examined.
It is thought to be brought about by any or a combination of a number of factors which include:
- Vitamin E deficiency
- Microcystin poisoning
- Heavy metals and other pollutants such as DDT, PCBs, PCDDs and brominated flame retardants
- Ingestion of affected animals
- Pathogens as yet unidentified
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Bright's disease was historically 'treated' with warm baths, blood-letting, squill, digitalis, mercuric compounds, opium, diuretics, laxatives, and dietary therapy, including abstinence from alcoholic drinks, cheese and red meat. Arnold Ehret was diagnosed with Bright's disease and pronounced incurable by 24 of Europe's most respected doctors; he designed "The Mucusless Diet Healing System", which apparently cured his illness. William Howard Hay, MD had the illness and, it is claimed, cured himself using the Hay diet.
When meningococcal disease is suspected, treatment must be started "immediately" and should not be delayed while waiting for investigations. Treatment in primary care usually involves prompt intramuscular administration of benzylpenicillin, and then an urgent transfer to hospital (hopefully, an academic level I medical center, or at least a hospital with round the clock neurological care, ideally with neurological intensive and critical care units) for further care. Once in the hospital, the antibiotics of choice are usually IV broad spectrum 3rd generation cephalosporins, e.g., cefotaxime or ceftriaxone. Benzylpenicillin and chloramphenicol are also effective. Supportive measures include IV fluids, oxygen, inotropic support, e.g., dopamine or dobutamine and management of raised intracranial pressure. Steroid therapy may help in some adult patients, but is unlikely to affect long term outcomes.
Complications following meningococcal disease can be divided into early and late groups. Early complications include: raised intracranial pressure, disseminated intravascular coagulation, seizures, circulatory collapse and organ failure. Later complications are: deafness, blindness, lasting neurological deficits, reduced IQ, and gangrene leading to amputations.
While obviously preventable by staying away from rodents, otherwise hands and face should be washed after contact and any scratches both cleaned and antiseptics applied. The effect of chemoprophylaxis following rodent bites or scratches on the disease is unknown. No vaccines are available for these diseases.
Improved conditions to minimize rodent contact with humans are the best preventive measures. Animal handlers, laboratory workers, and sanitation and sewer workers must take special precautions against exposure. Wild rodents, dead or alive, should not be touched and pets must not be allowed to ingest rodents.
Those living in the inner cities where overcrowding and poor sanitation cause rodent problems are at risk from the disease. Half of all cases reported are children under 12 living in these conditions.
The earliest known report of "bakanae" is from 1828; it was first described scientifically in 1898 by Japanese researcher Shotaro Hori, who showed that the causative agent was fungal.
The fungus affects rice crops in Asia, Africa, and North America. In epidemic cases yield losses may reach up to 20% or more. A 2003 publication from the International Rice Research Institute estimated that outbreaks of bakanae caused crop losses that were 20% to 50% in Japan, 15% in Thailand and 3.7% in India.
The infection is treated with antibiotics. Intravenous fluids and oxygen may be needed to stabilize the patient. There is a significant disparity between the untreated mortality and treated mortality rates: 10-60% untreated versus close to 0% treated with antibiotics within 8 days of initial infection. Tetracycline, Chloramphenicol, and doxycycline are commonly used. Infection can also be prevented by vaccination.
Some of the simplest methods of prevention and treatment focus on preventing infestation of body lice. Complete change of clothing, washing the infested clothing in hot water, and in some cases also treating recently used bedsheets all help to prevent typhus by removing potentially infected lice. Clothes also left unworn and unwashed for 7 days also cause both lice and their eggs to die, as they have no access to their human host. Another form of lice prevention requires dusting infested clothing with a powder consisting of 10% DDT, 1% malathion, or 1% permethrin, which kill lice and their eggs.
Most infections are mild and require no therapy or only symptomatic treatment. Because there is no virus-specific therapy, serious adenovirus illness can be managed only by treating symptoms and complications of the infection. Deaths are exceedingly rare but have been reported.
Flacherie (literally: "flaccidness") is a disease of silkworms, caused by silkworms eating infected or contaminated mulberry leaves. Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and can die from this disease. Silkworm larvae that are about to die from Flacherie are a dark brown.
There are two kinds of flacherie: essentially, infectious (viral) flacherie and noninfectious ("bouffee") flacherie. Both are technically a lethal diarrhea.
Bouffée flacherie is caused by heat waves ("bouffée" means "sudden heat spell" in French).
Viral flacherie is ultimately caused by infection with "Bombyx mori" infectious flacherie virus (BmIFV, Iflaviridae), "Bombyx mori" densovirus (BmDNV, Parvoviridae) or "Bombyx mori" cypovirus 1 (BmCPV-1, Reoviridae). This either alone or in combination with bacterial infection destroys the gut tissue. Bacterial pathogens contributing to infectious flaccherie are "Serratia marcescens", and species of "Streptococcus" and "Staphylococcus" in the form known as thatte roga.
Louis Pasteur, who began his studies on silkworm diseases in 1865, was the first one able to recognize that mortality due to viral flacherie was caused by infection. (Priority, however, was claimed by Antoine Béchamp.) Richard Gordon described the discovery: "The French silk industry was meanwhile plummeting from a 130 million to an 8 million francs annual income, because the silkworms had all caught "pébrine," black pepper disease…He [Pasteur] went south from Paris to Alais, and rewarded them by discovering the silkworm epidemic to be inflicted by some sort of living microbe…Pasteur threw in another disease, "flâcherie," silkworm diarrhoea. The cures for both were culling the insects which showed the peppery spots — the peasants bottled the silkworm moths in brandy, for display to the experts — and rigorous hygiene of the mulberry leaf."
The disease can be fatal if left untreated, but endemic typhus is highly treatable with antibiotics. Most people recover fully, but death may occur in the elderly, severely disabled or patients with a depressed immune system. The most effective antibiotics include tetracycline and chloramphenicol. In United States, CDC recommends solely doxycycline.
Antibiotics are ineffective, as SARS is a viral disease. Treatment of SARS is largely supportive with antipyretics, supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilation as needed.
People with SARS must be isolated, preferably in negative pressure rooms, with complete barrier nursing precautions taken for any necessary contact with these patients.
Some of the more serious damage caused by SARS may be due to the body's own immune system reacting in what is known as cytokine storm.
As of 2017, there is no cure or protective vaccine for SARS that has been shown to be both safe and effective in humans. The identification and development of novel vaccines and medicines to treat SARS is a priority for governments and public health agencies around the world. MassBiologics, a non-profit organization engaged in the discovery, development and manufacturing of biologic therapies, is cooperating with researchers at NIH and the CDC developed a monoclonal antibody therapy that demonstrated efficacy in animal models.
The effect of antibiotics in "E. coli" O157:H7 colitis is controversial. Certain antibiotics may stimulate further verotoxin production and thereby increase the risk of HUS. However, there is also tentative evidence that some antibiotics like quinolones may decrease the risk of hemolytic uremic syndrome. In the 1990s a group of pediatricians from the University of Washington used a network of 47 cooperating laboratories in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming to prospectively identify 73 children younger than 10 years of age who had diarrhea caused by "E. coli" O157:H7 The hemolytic–uremic syndrome developed in 5 of the 9 children given antibiotics (56 percent), and in 5 of the 62 children who were not given antibiotics (8 percent, P<0.001).
Treatment of HUS is generally supportive, with dialysis as needed. Platelet transfusion may actually worsen the outcome.
In most children with postdiarrheal HUS, there is a good chance of spontaneous resolution, so observation in a hospital is often all that is necessary, with supportive care such as hemodialysis where indicated. If a diagnosis of STEC-HUS is confirmed, plasmapheresis (plasma exchange) is contraindicated. However, plasmapheresis may be indicated when there is diagnostic uncertainty between HUS and TTP.
There are case reports of experimental treatments with eculizumab, a monoclonal antibody against CD5 that blocks part of the complement system, being used to treat congenital atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, as well as severe shiga-toxin associated hemolytic uremic syndrome. These have shown promising results. Eculizeumab was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 13, 2007 for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare, progressive, and sometimes life-threatening disease characterized by excessive hemolysis; and on September 23, 2011 for the treatment of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) It was approved by the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of PNH on June 20, 2007, and on November 29, 2011 for the treatment of aHUS. However, of note is the exceedingly high cost of treatment, with one year of the drug costing over $500,000.
Scientists are trying to understand how useful it would be to immunize humans or cattles with vaccines.
A body lice infestation is treated by improving the personal hygiene of the infested person, including assuring a regular (at least weekly) change of clean clothes. Clothing, bedding, and towels used by the infested person should be laundered using hot water (at least ) and machine dried using the hot cycle.
Sometimes the infested person also is treated with a pediculicide (a medicine that can kill lice); however, a pediculicide generally is not necessary if hygiene is maintained and items are laundered appropriately at least once a week. A pediculicide should be applied exactly as directed on the bottle or by a physician.
Delousing can also be practically achieved by boiling all clothes and bedding, or washing them at a high temperature. A temperature of for 5 minutes will kill most of the adults and prevent eggs from hatching. Leaving the clothes unwashed, but unworn for a full week, also results in the death of lice and eggs.
Where this is not practical or possible, powder dusting with 10% DDT, 1% malathion or 1% permethrin is also effective.
Oral ivermectin at a dose of 12 mg on days 0, 7 and 14 has been used in a small trial of 33 people in Marseilles, but did not result in complete eradication, although there was a significant fall in the number of parasites and proportion of people infected. At the moment, ivermectin cannot be routinely recommended for the treatment of body lice.
Medication, insecticide or burning of clothing and bedding is usually not necessary, as the problem normally goes away with daily bathing, weekly (or more frequent) laundering and drying of clothing, bedding, towels, etc. in a hot clothes drier.