Bugs, Germs, Diseases and Other

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Bugs, Germs, Diseases and Other Nasties

• Pacific EMPRINTS Presentation
• August 1, 2006

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PRESENTED BY

• John Casken, RN, MPH., PhD.,
• Fellow, Royal Society of Health (U.K.)
• Director, Office of International Affairs
• School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene
• University of Hawaii at Manoa
• Honolulu, HI
• casken_at_hawaii.edu

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Outcomes

• What youll learn from this presentation
• Differences between bugs, germs, bacteria, and
  viruses
• Why these guys can cause trouble
• What we can do to protect ourselves

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What are we really talking about?

• Germs?
• Bugs?
• Bacteria?
• Viruses?

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Germs and Bugs

• In every day use, we might say I picked up a
  bug
• What is a bug?
• 1) Something small that is making us sick.
• 2) Something we catch from someone else or from
  something like food that has gone bad.

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Germs and Bugs (2)

• Germs and bugs are not accurate words to use
  professionally in the health field
• But after giving you a formal definition of
  bacteria and viruses, which are the more correct
  names for germs, we will go back to using bugs
  and germs

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Bacteria

• Technical Definition
• Any of a variety of one-celled micro-organisms
  of the plant kingdom, existing as free living
  organisms or parasites, multiplying by
  subdivision and having a large range or
  biochemical (including pathogenic) properties.
• Melloni Medical Dictionary

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More about Bacteria

• Can exist almost anywhere
• More bacteria as separate individuals than any
  other organism
• More useful types than harmful ones
• Used in many human tasks making alcohol,
  cheese, sewage disposal

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Viruses

• Technical Definition
• An intracellular, infectious parasite, capable
  of living and reproducing only in living cells.
• Melloni Medical Dictionary

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More about Viruses

• They are very tiny and require an electron
  microscope to be seen
• Are composed of mainly nucleic acid within a
  protein coat
• At this time, viruses are not known to be of
  value to man, but as we have been able to work
  with them for only about 80 years, we still have
  a lot to learn about them.

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Germs and Bugs Problems (1)

• Germs cause infectious diseases.
• Infectious diseases are a major problem in many
  parts of the world, especially poorer countries.
• TB, malaria, diarrhea, measles and HIV/AIDS are
  some of the major infectious diseases that are
  caused by germs.

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Germs and Bugs Problems (2)

• Being sick with an infectious disease is a
  problem not just for the individual but for the
  persons family, the persons village and the
  whole community.
• If youre sick, you cant work you cant harvest
  the crops.
• If youre sick, you can infect other people and
  so on and so on.

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The Major Infection That Were Worried About

• We lived with Malaria and TB and we know that
  they take a long time to kill us!
• Avian Flu or Pandemic Flu can kill many people,
  very fast.
• These flus are spread by germs

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Protection Against Bugs and Germs

• The first thing to do is to ask how bugs and
  germs grow and then how they spread among people
  and also among animals as they can also be
  affected by bugs and germs

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How Bugs and Germs Grow

• Think of what we need to live and increase in
  numbers
• A good safe place
• A good food source
• No enemies

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Good Places for Bugs to Grow

• Each type of bug can be different but for most
  them warmth and moisture are important.
• Food should be readily available.
• If no enemies they can multiple very fast.
• The inside of bodies is often an excellent place
  with everything that a bug needs!

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How Bugs and Germs Spread

• 1. They often can move a little bit where they
  are living but cant make big moves.
• 2. They need a carrier
• people
• pets
• animals
• insects
• plants

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Using People

• What did we do at the beginning of the class?
• Did anyone share my food and drink?
• Did anyone cough or sneeze?

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Using Pets

• My dog likes me to scratch his ears and is always
  hanging around the kitchen and the table..
• When I take my dog for a walkyes! If I dont
  pick it up there are a lot of germs in that mess
  waiting for a ride
• Dogs and cats can drool on furniture and lick our
  hands.

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Using Animals

• Just like my dog, many animals live near people
  and their poop has germs.
• People who work with the skins (or feathers) of
  wild or domestic animals can pick up germs from
  the skins (or feathers).
• Animals can get sick from their own diseases and
  die. Their carcasses can be full of germs
  waiting to be picked up.

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Using Insects

• Flies are everywhere. Just think where was that
  fly walking before it walked on your food?
• Mosquitoes spread many germs that cause major
  diseases.
• Ticks and other insects feed on our blood and
  spread germs in the process.

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Using Plants

• If you eat a vegetable or a fruit ask yourself
  how it got water?
• Who picked the plant?
• Who prepared it for the table?

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Protecting Ourselves

• Basic Principle
• Cut the spread of germs.
• If they cant spread and multiple, they will die
  off.

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Protecting Ourselves from Bugs and Germs

• 1. Avoid problem areas and sick people
• 2. Long lasting protection, such as vaccinations
  and immunizations shots
• 3. Short lasting protection, such as bug spray

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More Protection

• The basics Soap and Water!
• Washing hands Happy Birthday x 2
• Washing our bodies
• Washing our fresh fruits and vegetables
• Washing clothes
• Washing places in our homes

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More Protection

• For airborne spread
• Cover mouth when coughing or sneezing
• Wearing a mask
• when dealing with items that have bugs and germs
• when other people are coughing and sneezing

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More Protection

• To reduce germs around our houses
• pick up poop
• get rid of things that can hold still water
• get rid of rotten old food

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Avian Flu How Its Spread Among Birds

• Normal spread is from a wild bird to domestic
  bird.
• Ducks, geese and swans are usual carriers.
• Can be spread among domestic birds by
  contaminated food and clothing, feed and cages.
• The current highly lethal virus HPAI H5N1 can
  survive for 35 days in contaminated poop at 4C
  and for 6 days at 37C.

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Spread from Birds to Humans

• Still unclear how its spread but mainly through
  contact with dead or sick birds especially when
  slaughtering birds.
• Bird droppings can be a source of infection in
  areas where kids might play.
• It does NOT appear to spread by eating thoroughly
  cooked meat.

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Why Avoid an Avian Flu Death?

• H5N1 at the moment is highly lethal.
• Death is relatively rapid.
• Acute respiratory distress within around 6 days
  of infection you need to be intubated in order
  to breathe.
• Multi-organ failure and breakdown
• All the health staff will be wearing protective
  clothing no human contact.

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Can We Prevent Avian Flu Spread

• Only way to successfully stop the spread is by
  slaughtering and carefully disposing the bodies
  of all the birds
• Rigorous disinfecting of the farms and areas
  where the birds were
• How could this be done in the Islands?

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Are There Any Drugs to Prevent or Cure?

• A number of firms are working on a vaccine
  against the H5N1 strain
• Tamiflu CAN be useful if given to the patient
  within 48-60hrs after symptoms begin

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Current Situation

• 231 deaths since the beginning of the latest
  outbreak beginning December 2004
• Most deaths have occurred in S.E.Asia but there
  have been deaths in Turkey.
• The disease has been detected in birds all over
  Europe and Asia
• WHO is paying very close attention to the problem
  as are most countries in the whole world because
  the costs of a pandemic would be very high

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If There is an Outbreak of Pandemic Flu What
happens?

• To date the most talked about solution is social
  isolation for two weeks.
• However
• 1. Wed still need to clean up the virus
• 2. How would your community cope with no
  one working for 2 weeks?????

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Best Advice

• Keep yourself up-to-date on what is happening
• Practice the basic steps!

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Sign off

• Enjoy your stay in Honolulu.