Hepatitis B Essays - Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Health

Hepatitis B Hepatitis B can be prevented with a highly effective vaccine, but this year ten to thirty million people will become infected with the hepatitis B virus. I feel that because this disease is preventable, only knowledge can help reduce the number of people infected. Hepatitis B is a serious liver disease caused by the hepatitis B virus. This virus is a blood-borne pathogen. It is one hundred times more infectious than HIV. ?Hepatitis B is one of the most frequently reported vaccine preventable diseases in the United States,? according to the Centers for Disease Control. This disease is transmitted through oral, vaginal, and anal sex. You can also acquire the disease through sharing needles, toothbrushes, and razors, or if you come in contact with infected blood. For these reasons, the people at the highest risk of contracting the disease are: anyone who is sexually active; health, dental, and emergency workers; adoptive families with children form Asia, Africa, South America, Eastern and Mediterranean Europe (as these areas have a high number of people infected); drug users; and anyone in close contact with someone infected. This is not as scary as it seems, for you cannot contract the virus through sneezing, coughing, or holding hands. A surprising fact about hepatitis B, considering it is preventable, is that one in twenty people are or will be infected in their lifetime. There are one million people infected in the United States. More than 350 million people worldwide are chronic carriers of the virus. A chronic carrier is someone with the virus in their blood, and can who can pass the disease to others. Fifty percent of those infected with the virus (a.k.a. HBV) do not develop symptoms. HBV is often called the ?Silent Infection?. Another forty nine percent experience fevers, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. Many people think that it is just the flu and ignore their symptoms. Some other symptoms include abdominal pain or swelling, jaundice, dark colored urine or light colored bowel movements. The other one percent develops acute fulminant hepatitis. Of those infected with it, sixty to ninety percent of all cases result in fatalities. It is characterized by fatigue- most often resulting in collapsing, and jaundice- yellowing of the skin due liver malfunctions. There is no medical treatment for hepatitis. Although, with bed rest ninety percent of those infected will develop antibodies and fight off the disease. If the body fails to fight it off, some (five to ten percent) will develop chronic hepatitis. These people have an increased risk of liver problems, like cirrhosis (hardening of the liver) and liver cancer. Some chronic cases will need liver transplants. There is no cure for hepatitis B, but there are some drugs to help. Interferon helps to quicken the rates of remission. There are also two drugs that are in the last phase of FDA approval- lamivudine and famciclovir. These are thought to be available toward the end of the year. If you have contracted HBV, you should immediately contact a doctor, and get regular checkups. If you are pregnant you should make sure to tell your doctor so they can protect your baby. Also, make sure close contacts are vaccinated. And most of all- no alcohol, because it will further damage your liver. There is only one sure way to protect yourself- get vaccinated. The vaccine is very safe and effective. It is in the form of three shots, given over a period of six months. The shots can be given at a doctor's office or at school clinics. One very informative source is The Hepatitis B Foundation. The address is: 700 East Butler Avenue Doylestown, PA18901 (215) 489-4900 For additional help contact your doctor. Hepatitis B is a very infectious disease, but the most important thing to remember is that it can be prevented with three simple shots. There is no excuse as to why anyone should not be vaccinated!

To Secure These Rights essays

To Secure These Rights essays To Secure These Rights played a great role in United States history. This book exceeded civil rights activists highest expectations. During a time when men were coming back from World War two. An African American man could go and die for his country but he still had to ride in the back of the bus, he still had to face racism everywhere he went. To Secure These Rights opened the eyes of many people and helped president Truman get elected and fight for civil rights. After Truman was elected president he came up with the idea to set up a national committee to reduce racial conflicts that the white house had been facing since the outbreak of rioting in 1943. Truman decided to create a committee through executive order rather then seek legislation that would not work by a senate filibuster. By doing this the president settled some things. He satisfied civil rights advocates whose ideas he did agree with, he didnt have to talk to southern democratic lawmakers, and most importantly he taught the public the need to extend equality instead of segregation under the law. On December 5, Truman issued executive order creating the Presidents Committee on Civil Rights. After he issued executive order he said, Today, Freedom from Fear, and the democratic institutions which sustain it, are again under attack. Rather then focusing on mob violence, he instructed, The committee to make recommendations in respect to adoption or establishment by legislation or otherwise of more adequate and procedures for protection of civil rights of the people. Truman knew that a war was approaching and he also knew he had to do something about civil rights. By making this committee he must have knew what he was doing because most southern press didnt even print the executive order some even praised that something needed to be done about the horrible crime of lynching. There were many things that led to the c...

NetFlix company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

NetFlix company - Essay Example To overlook this essential aspect would lead to misdirection in the company’s plans for the future. This obvious neglect of the customer’s welfare in the mission statement might have been the underlying reason why in 2011 Netflix committed the mistake of increasing its subscription prices. Netflix had to pay greatly for the said oversight which resulted in a sharp decline in its subscriber base and its stock price. Due to Netflix’s CEO Reed Hasting’s huge desire to slowly abandon its DVD operations, he decided to separate the DVD business from the streaming business and to increase the price of their subscription plans (Sandoval , par 4). Clearly, there was a blunder on Hasting’s part to do such move. What led him to commit such a major slip-up? What can be said is that it all goes back to the mission statement. There is no concern for the market that they serve. Hasting’s main concern was to be aggressive and focus on streaming, before their competitors get ahead of them. It is what is stated in their vision, to be the global leader in the enter tainment distribution service, no matter what their customers feel. Given this background, it is highly recommended that Netflix restate its mission statement to take into account the people who have made them where they are today, their subscribers. It is suggested that Netflix’s mission statement and vision for the future should be: Netflix is dedicated to becoming the best global entertainment distribution service by entering into licensing agreements with television and movie producers and distributors around the world; by creating markets that are accessible to film makers and by assisting content creators around the world to find a global audience, but at all times, recognizing that our responsibility first and foremost is to offer stellar service to our subscribers, through quantity and quality