Health Information

1. immunology is broad branch of biomedical science that cover the study of all aspects of the
immune system in all orgnanisms.

2. malfunction of the immune system in immunological disorders(autoimmune diseases,hypersensivity, immune deficiency,allograft rejection)

3. the immune system has been divided into a more primitive innate immune system and acquired or adaptive immune system

4.the latter of which is further divided into humoral and cellular components

5.the humoral (antibody)response is defined as the interaction between antibodies and andigens

6.clinical immunology is the study of deseases caused by the immune system and diseases of the immune system from a medical perspective

7.In immunotheraphy,treatsments are done for the immune system disorders.

8.these treatments are belongs to chemotheraphy(drugs) and radiotheraphy(radiation)

9.Diagnostic immunology is another aspect of immunology.

10.study of the immune system in extant and extinct species id capable of giving us a key understandin of the evolution of species and the immune system.

caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae.
spread by direct physical contact or airborne drop lets.
Eradicated in developed nations.

Clinical features
Incubation period of 2-7 days.
A disease of childhood.
Clinical features due to
Membrane (local)
Exotoxin (systemic)
Clinical features
Nasal diphtheria, Pharyngeal diphtheria, Laryngeal diphtheria cutaneous diphtheria.
Fatigue, fever, a mild sore throat and problems swallowing.
Children - nausea, vomiting, chills, and a high fever.
Toxin released by the bacterium – (generalized) listlessness, pallor, and fast heart rate, Low blood pressure may develop.

Diagnosis
Clinical criteria
Upper respiratory tract illness with sore throat
Low-grade fever, and
adherent membrane of the tonsil(s), arynx, and/or nose.
Isolation of Corynebacterium diphtheriae from a clinical specimen, or
Histopathologic diagnosis of diphtheria.

Treatment
immediate medical attention - severe cases lymph nodes in the neck may swell, and breathing and swallowing will be more difficult.
diphtheria anti-toxin
Antibiotics are used in patients.
All contact – get throat swabs if positive treat.
Carriers to eradicate C. diphtheriae and prevent its transmission to others

caused species of Bordetella
B. pertussis
some cases - B. parapertussis.
Highly contagious.
Similar to other upper respiratory tract infection in early stage – spread easily.

Clinical features
Incubation - 7 to 14 days.
infants and young children.(90% cases below 5 years)
catarrhal stage – Malaise, anorexia, cough, sneezing, and runny nose, conjunctivitis.
paroxysmal stage –
after one to two weeks
paroxysms of coughing followed by an inspiratory “whooping” sound due to air way obstruction.
Complications of Pertussis
Vomiting, in severe cases leads to malnutrition.
Complications - pneumonia, bronchitis, encephalitis, pulmonary hypertension, and secondary bacterial.
Complication due to cough – rectal prolapse, inguinal hernia.

Transmission
airborne drops
More during the catarrhal stage

Diagnosis of Pertussis
Clinically – characteristic whoop.
culturing of nasopharyngeal swabs.
WBC/DC – increase lymphocytes.
polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence, and serological methods.

Treatment
Antibiotics - less infectious.
Close contacts - chemoprophylaxis - protected from developing symptomatic disease.
Prevention

vaccines
highly effective.
only a few years - lasts through childhood, the time of greatest risk.
Most infected adults and adolescents vaccinated or infected early.
Side effects – neurological - seizures and hypotonic episodes.

Virus enter via respiratory tract mucosa.
Incubation – 14-21 days.
Fever, headache, malaise
Skin manifestation.

Rapid progress – macules – papules – vasicles - pustules.
Skin changes in hours.
Lesions occur – face, scalp, trunk, less in extremities.
All stages of skin lesions on same area.
Fever subside as soon as no new lesions are coming.

Child illness is mild or absent.
Can be debilitating in adults.

Complication of varicella
Pneumonia – 1-6 days after skin eruption.
CNS involvement – present as acute truncal cerebral ataxia.
Immunocompromised patient - disseminated infection with multi-organ involvement.
Herpes Zoster.

Diagnosis
Clinically.
Can confirm by immunofluorescence, culture or eletron microscopy.

Treatment
Healthy children – need not
Immunosuppressed patients need treatment.
Zoster immune immunoglobulin.
Acyclovir
Vaccine available now.

Occur in adults.
Identical skin lesion.
Unilateral, dermatomal distribution.
Re-emergence of VZV from posterior root or cranial nerves.
Why activate ? – change in immunity.

Clinical features
Pain, tingling sensation affected skin.
Vesicles, papules, bullous in throughout the dermatome.
Can spread chickenpox.

complication
Post-herpetic neuralgia.
Can affect eye –trigeminal nerve.

treatment
Local treatment of wound.
Acyclovir – all patients.
Oral
Cream

Whilst body mass index (BMI) provides a useful index of adiposity within population it is a poor predictor in individuals. Waist circumference is a stronger predictor of total body fat than BMI, and also reflects intra-abdominal fat accumulation. A rapidly growing body of evidence confirms the large waist circumference to be a strong predictor of all components of metabolic syndrome (hypertension, insulin resistance and dyslipidaemia), including in those with low BMI. For this knowledge to transfer into clinical benefit, the adverse effects indicated by a large waist size must be disseminated to public and health professionals alike as a tool for health promotion (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, 1996; National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 1998). Measurement of waist circumference is simple, using standard methods with bony landmarks (World Health Organization, 1998) but still time consuming and sometimes culturally problematic as clothes must be removed and difficult to obtain in subjects with extreme obesity. A study of 49 males and 62 females with wide range of age (9–83 years) and BMI (9–43 kg m2) showed the high reproducibility (intraclass correlation of 0.99)

Most men equate waist circumference with trouser size, but their equivalence, or the value of women’s dress size, has not been assessed. The present study aimed to relate subjects’ clothing sizes to waist circumference, BMI and to the risks of ischaemic heart disease, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, and to derive cut-off levels of clothing size that correspond to increased health risks.

Consumption of sufficient amounts of fruit and vegetables are recommended as part of a healthy diet. Fruit and vegetables may reduce chronic diseases and more specifically, coronary heart disease (CHD) by means of their protective constituents such as potassium, folate, vitamins, fiber, and other phenolic compounds. These nutrients act through a variety of mechanisms, such as reducing antioxidant stress, improving lipoprotein profile, lowering blood pressure, increasing insulin sensitivity, and improving hemostasis regulation . However, the recommendation to eat fruit and vegetables to prevent chronic diseases is mainly based on observational epidemiological studies.