Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

CHANGING LIFESTYLES AND HEALTH
TEAM BUILDING AND SIMULATION OF HIV OUTBREAK AT A
SENTINEL SITE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Seiji Kageyama
INTRODUCTION
Emerging Infections: Influence of Globalization on
Infectious Diseases
Compared with earlier generations, we possess an enormous
scientific base at present. New information about
infectious diseases as “Emerging and re-emerging
infections” has been acquired and the knowledge level is
highest in the human history. However, new infectious
diseases are still being identified often with unknown
long-term public health impact, and even classical
infections are still broadly endemic and maintain a large
reservoir of agents. (Satcher, 1995)
A careful review of infectious disease trends shows a
fragile equilibrium between humans and infectious
microorganisms. A number of infections and etiologic
agents were identified just within the last 30 years (Table
1). Most of those occurred as zoonoses and the human
invasion into an animal world such as forests may have
been enabled humans to encounter new pathogens.
Those pathogens transmit to others internationally
Table 1: Emerging Infections Since 1973.
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through the rapid transportation measures, such as
by using airplanes within a couple of days. Infectious
disease expansion in the world has become easier along
with the global industrialization. Once the pathogens
enter into human world (from the forest, for instance),
those can easily transmit from a human to another
human and become common in human world. Usually
new infection causes severe disease for human and in
some cases it is fatal. In Table 1, the representative new
infections emerged in human world are shown since
1973. Some are severe and others are fatal. Among
these infections, some may have been existed since
ancient times but the recognition of the relationships
between the etiologies and the pathogens were revealed
very recently. This was enabled by the development of
diagnosis technology. These infections are now common
in the world. This implies that we are living in the world
very close to other species harboring pathogens that
normally infect only limited animals. These pathogens
spontaneously come to the human world and cause
disease and sometimes do fatal ones.
Year Agent Disease
1973 Rotavirus Major cause of infantile diarrhea world wide
1975 Parvovirus B19 Aplastic crisis in chronic hemolytic anemia
1976 Cryptosporidium parvum Acute enterocolitis
1977 Ebola virus Ebola hemorrhagic fever
1977 Legionella pneumophilia Legionnaires’ disease
1977 Hantaan virus Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS)
1977 Campylobacter sp. Enteric pathogens distributed globally
1980 HTLV-I T cell lymphoma leukemia
1981 Staphylococcus toxin Toxic shock syndrome associated with tampon use
1982 Escherichia coli O157:H7 Hemorrhagic colitis; hemolytic uremic syndrome
1982 HTLV II Hairly cell leukemia
1982 Borrelia burgdorferi Lyme disease
1983 HIV AIDS
1983 Helicobacter pylori Gastric ulcers
1988 Human herpes virus-6 Roseola subtum
1989 Ehrlichia chaffeensis Human ehrlichiosis
1989 Hepatitis C virus Hepatitis and related disorders
1991 Guanarito virus Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever
1992 Vibrio cholerae O139 New strain associated with epidemic cholera
1992 Bartonella henselae Cat-scratch disease; bacillary antiomatosis
1993 Sin Nombre Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
1994 Sabiá virus Brazilian hemorragic fever
1997 Avian influenza virus Influenza
1999 Nipah virus Encephalitis
2003 SARS-Corona virus Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
Source: Satcher, 1995. Emerging infections: getting ahead of the curve. Emerg Infect Dis 1: 1-6.
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows