Newly Found Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria: CRE

Before I go into what I think about CRE, I think you all should know what it is.

 CRE stands for ...

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae 

This bacteria is known to be antibiotic resistant and found mostly hospital and medical care facilities. A post in USATODAY states that "The antibiotic resistance is spread by mobile pieces of DNA that can move between different species of bacteria, creating new, drug-defying bugs". These "bugs"...or CRE is becoming a threat to patients in these health care facilities. The CDC states that "CRE bacteria are most often spread person-to-person through contact with infected or colonized people, particularly contact with wounds or stool. In healthcare settings, CRE infections occur among sick patients who are receiving treatment for other conditions. Patients whose care requires devices like ventilators (breathing machines), urinary (bladder) catheters, or intravenous (vein) catheters, and patients who are taking long courses of certain antibiotics are among those at risk for CRE infections."......Quite frankly this really does scare me. Hospitals and healthcare facilities are supposed to be places where you get cured or you get care for infectious such as these, but if the place of expected care is also the source of infection, then what is one to do? Yes, I understand, there is bacteria everywhere, but the fact that it is resistant to most antibiotics has me worried. In some cases the infections caused by this bacteria are deadly.

But for people who are a bit worried like me, CDC suggests a few things...

Patients should:

• Expect all doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers wash their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub before and after touching your body or tubes going into your body.
• Clean their own hands often, especially:
  • Before preparing or eating food
  • Before touching your eyes, nose, or mouth
  • Before and after changing wound dressings or bandages or handling medical devices
  • After using the bathroom
  • After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• Ask questions. Understand what is being done to you, the risks and benefits.

Hookworms (Ancylostoma Duodenale)

This hookworm parasite is classified under Nematodes. The hosts are usually cats, dogs, and humans...so yes...that means you and I! To make it even worse, hookworms are the only parasites with teeth! Ouch! But the better thing about it is that it is only found in some parts of the United States, and mostly around  southern Europe, north Africa, India, China, southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and South America.

The information required from the CDC states that "Hookworms live in the small intestine. Hookworm eggs are passed in the feces of an infected person. If the infected person defecates outside (near bushes, in a garden, or field) or if the feces of an infected person are used as fertilizer, eggs are deposited on soil. They can then mature and hatch, releasing larvae (immature worms). The larvae mature into a form that can penetrate the skin of humans. Hookworm infection is mainly acquired by walking barefoot on contaminated soil. One kind of hookworm can also be transmitted through the ingestion of larvae."

Treatment of this hookworm can be through the use of Anthelminthic medication, which is for the use of parasites.

For more information one can visit the CDC's website 

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/hookworm/gen_info/index.html

Lead...and NOT the kind that's in your pencil

Lead is a metal that is highly toxic. I remember when I was younger I thought that the leadin our pencils was actually that kind of lead, but come to find out it was actually graphite.....but lead is in a few things that we know and use everyday. Lead can be found in mamy items including paints, ceramics, pipes, cosmetics, batteries and gasoline. Although its toxic, it is also low in cost, high in abundance, and it's physical properties or convienient. Most of the lead poisoning cases come from households and their paint. Great exposure to lead can lead to different neurological disorders such as lack of muscle coordination, convulsions, and coma.
Remember to be careful when dealing with lead!

Rachel Louise Carson

“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” 

-Rachel Carson 

If you ask somebody about Rachel Carson, you will see that she cannot simply be labeled with one title. Born on the 27th of May in 1907, Rachel Carson was an ecologist, a biologist, a conservationist, and also a writer. She is famous for her book Silent Springs.

She was known to write on the topics of conservation and natural resources. Carson began her career as an aquatic biologist in the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and became a full-time nature writer in the 1950s. After this, Carson turned her attention to conservation and environmental problems caused by pesticides. Rachel Carson was a woman who helped advance the global environmental movement and will always be remembered.

Climate Change!

How many people do you know that can  truly say that they have heard of either 1.) The Medieval Global Temperature Optimum or 2.) The Little Ice Age? I for one am not familiar with them, but I happened to do a little research.

The Medieval Global Temperature Optimum, which is also known as the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), was a time where the North Atlantic region of the World was experiencing a rather warm climate which also seemed to be related to other climate changes around the world. It is said to have lasted from about 950 AD to 1250 AD. Following this event, was what came to be known as The Little Ice Age. It wasn't really a true ice age, but just a period of cooling that followed the MWP. This lasted from about the 1300's to the 1900's. During this time, there were different periods of the cold climate change.

Earthquake in Haiti

Most people are familiar with the earthquake in Haiti that happened in 2010. This earthquake was 7.0 in magnitude and killed THOUSANDS of people. A lot of damages were done to infrastructures as well, including the National Palace.

Picture that I took of the National Palace

Tent Cities

When I first heard about it, I didn't really know too much about it. I just knew that 1. There was an earthquake and 2. Many people were hurt by it. In 2011, I had the chance to go to the city of  Leogane for a mission trip. I didn't even know that Leogane was one of the main areas that was hit by the earthquake. My first time driving through the city, I saw a lot of garbage all over the streets, the smell of the city was HORRID, and there were people living in Tent Cities. Even though the city was MUCH cleaner than before, you could see that a lot of work still had to be done.

Driving through the city. 

 Since I saw the effects of the Earthquake first hand, I saw how as an emergency response health professional, it is important to have people help with things such as disaster relief. Since there was a lot of damage done to the buildings of Haiti, there was a lot of debris and pollution. These factors are both detrimental to the health of the Haitian civilians, as well as the environment. That is why people from disaster relief teams or just plain volunteers come and help not only clean up, but reconstruct.

Helping to Reconstruct a church.

  Mental Health is also very important. That is why you need people to come in and console others, especially the children because many of them lost loved ones to the earthquake.

Me with the BEAUTIFUL Haitian children <3

Malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Malaria is one of the most common environmental health issues that is prevalent all over the world. It is a mosquito-borne disease that has a great effect on the continent of Africa. One country in particular, that is affected by malaria, is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One might ask me, why are you so worried about the Congo? Well, my parents are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so DRC definitely has a place in my heart.



Yes, countries such as Uganda and Kenya may have the highest number of malaria cases reported, but DRC is known to have the HIGHEST number of DEATHS by malaria. Now that is just outrageous, not only is it the number one killer in that country, but it is the number one killer of CHILDREN in that country. Anybody who knows me,  knows that I LOVE kids, so it absolutely breaks my heart to hear how MY PEOPLE are dying from a disease that is more than preventable. The World Health Organization reported that everyday over 400 CHILDREN die in DRC, within this number HALF of them are dying because of malaria.

Video: Battle Against Malaria in the Congo

Although this is an ongoing problem in the DRC, there are organizations such as NetsforLife that help prevent this problem

NetsForLife: DRC

World Malaria Day Mosquito Net Distribution in DRC