|
Showing 1 - 4 of
4 matches in All Departments
Physicians in most developed countries are at a great disadvantage
when confronted with geographic and tropical diseases. They may be
faced with prevention for patients who are outward bound or with
diagnosis and treatment on their return. The practitioners'
difficulties relate to inade quate teaching in medical schools and
to the infrequency with which they are confronted with these exotic
diseases. It is quite surprising to realize the extent of travel by
Americans to areas where the tropical diseases abound: in 1979
there were 3 million trips by U. S. residents to Central and South
America and almost 1 million to Africa and Asia. I Further, the
influx from the tropics to the United States in 1978 involved 4. 5
million visitors and more than half a million immigrants. I The
single most danger ous ofthese infections is malaria, which is now
averaging about 500 cases yearly in the United States; it is
important to realize that infection with one species of this
organism (Plasmodium falciparum) can be lethal within a few days of
the onset of fever. Highly contagious infections such as the newly
discovered and extremely lethal Lassa and Ebola fevers may be
imported to our shores, plus cholera, antibiotic-resistant
bacillary dys entery, and amebic dysentery and liver abscess.
Chronic worm infections such as schistosomiasis, although rarely
lethal, may have severe conse 2 quences such as paraplegia or
hematemesis."
The Forum on Microbial Threats (previously named the Forum on
Emerging Infections) was created in 1996 in response to a request
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the
National Institutes of Health (NIH). The goal of the Forum is to
provide structured opportunities for representatives from academia,
industry, professional and interest groups, and government to
examine and discuss scientific and policy issues that are of shared
interest and that are specifically related to research and
prevention, detection, and management of emerging infectious
diseases. In accomplishing this task, the Forum provides the
opportunity to foster the exchange of information and ideas,
identify areas in need of greater attention, clarify policy issues
by enhancing knowledge and identifying points of agreement, and
inform decision makers about science and policy issues. The Forum
seeks to illuminate issues rather than resolve them directly;
hence, it does not provide advice or recommendations on any
specific policy initiative pending before any agency or
organization. Its strengths are the diversity of its membership and
the contributions of individual members expressed throughout the
activities of the Forum. Recent increased attention to both United
States and international public health systems as well as the
medical research and treatment infrastructure has revealed
significant deficiencies in their capacity to respond to infectious
diseases. Medical and public health professionals may be poorly
equipped to detect, diagnose, and treat common infectious diseases
as well as those diseases that pose an unexpected threat. The need
for the development of domestic and international training programs
in the expanding field of emerging and reemerging infectious
diseases is well recognized. Well-trained infectious disease
professionals form the basis of a strong national healthcare
system. The Forum on Emerging Infections (now renamed the Forum on
Microbial Threats) convened a 2-day workshop discussion--the
subject of this summary--to examine the education and training
needs to ensure an adequate infectious diseases workforce. The
workshop reviewed trends in research training programs and
discussed the requirements for establishing successful educational
initiatives and training programs to ensure a competent and
prepared workforce for current and future challenges in infectious
diseases. Some key disciplines explored as case-study examinations
included infectious disease epidemiology, vaccinology, vector
biology, and public health laboratorians.
In the wake of September 11th and recent anthrax events, our
nationa (TM)s bioterrorism response capability has become an
imminent priority for policymakers, researchers, public health
officials, academia, and the private sector. In a three-day
workshop, convened by the Institute of Medicinea (TM)s Forum on
Emerging Infections, experts from each of these communities came
together to identify, clarify, and prioritize the next steps that
need to be taken in order to prepare and strengthen bioterrorism
response capabilities. From the discussions, it became clear that
of utmost urgency is the need to cast the issue of a response in an
appropriate framework in order to attract the attention of Congress
and the public in order to garner sufficient and sustainable
support for such initiatives. No matter how the issue is cast,
numerous workshop participants agreed that there are many gaps in
the public health infrastructure and countermeasure capabilities
that must be prioritized and addressed in order to assure a rapid
and effective response to another bioterrorist attack.
"The many diseases that are endemic in most of the developing
nations of the world (and that may also affect travelers to these
regions) are, at world levels, the most important sources of
morbidity that affect the entire human race. The change in
morbidity patterns in the more developed nations should not be
permitted to blind the more affluent countries to the implications
of this simple statement. Thus, direct and useful guides are needed
to assure efficient and economical diagnosis and treatment of those
infections that are endemic to the less affluent two-thirds of the
earth.
"The algorithms in this book have been developed by Drs. Warren and
Mahmoud, as the result of a systematic effort to produce such
guides. The book is presented as another in the series "Studies in
Infectious Disease Research" and is a most welcome addition,
certain to supply a major and hitherto inadequately fulfilled
need."--from the Foreword, by Edward H. Kass, M. D., Ph.D
|
You may like...
Tenet
John David Washington, Robert Pattinson
Blu-ray disc
(1)
R54
Discovery Miles 540
|