Anthrax: Public Health Response And Health Risks

Anthrax
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Introduction
Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis. The disease is present in many parts including southern Europe, Asia, Australia and sub-Saharan Africa. The form in which anthrax spores enter the body determines the type of anthrax acquired. The major forms of the disease include cutaneous, gastrointestinal, inhalation and injection anthrax. The infections are prevalent among animals when they ingest spores in either contaminated water, plants or soils CITATION WHO17 \l 1033 (WHO, 2017). This report gives an overview of public health response in the case of a patient with anthrax disease.
The Case of Inhalation Anthrax
A 50-year-old Mexican lady was diagnosed with pneumonia after exhibiting dyspnea and mild fever like symptoms. The patient was treated, but five days later there was no improvement. The hospital admitted the patient for further blood tests and checkups. An examination of the patient’s blood under several metabolic and microbial enzymatic tests, B. anthracis was presumed present. This was after an examination of the chest x-rays and lung secretion samples that revealed respiratory anthrax. The physician in charge administered the antibiotics to suppress the disease. However, the patient’s response to antibiotics was low leading to her death after two days of discovering the respiratory anthrax infection. The infection was in advanced stages prior to the patient seeking medical attention.
Public Health Response and health risks
After the outcome of the laboratory tests, the laboratory technician notified the physician of the possibility of respiratory anthrax. Combined with the x-ray results and several tests, the physician recommended another further analysis of the same by the state’s national laboratory (Azarkar & Bidak, 2016). Therefore, the National Reference Laboratory received samples of the patient’s lung secretion and blood. The laboratory report confirmed the presence of respiratory anthrax.
The chief physician called for the screening of the hospital attendees who were caring for the lady and the people who were in close contact. Despite the disease not being communicable, secretion and sputum from the patient would contain the bacteria that were due to spread and affect others. With early diagnosis and treatment, the disease is manageable. Then, followed the chief physician reporting to the department of health. The reporting is necessary for the department to document the outbreak of the disease. Also, to assure preventive mechanism is exercised for any further infections CITATION CDC17 \l 1033 (CDC, 2017).
The department...