For a long time people have known about pestilence. What it is was described in all medieval publications devoted to medicine. However, nowadays such a phrase is found less and less, except perhaps in remote parts of the country. Most people know this disease as the plague. So what is it?
General information
It's best to ask the doctor about a plague. What kind of disease this is, perhaps, any specialist knows. Some believe that today such a disease is completely defeated, but not everything is so simple. The plague, which is hidden under this phrase, which has frightened the people since ancient times, is a natural focal disease. It is officially categorized as an acute infectious disease.
Classic signs of infection are fever and skin lesions. During the examination, it can be seen that the patient's lungs suffer the most. One of the features is a very difficult course of intoxication. Pathology affects the lymph nodes. Today, plague is included in the list of especially dangerous infectious diseases.
What provokes
In modern medicineThe name of the pestilence is the plague. This disease develops when a person becomes infected with a plague bacillus. The predominantly natural infectious reservoir is rodents, hares and animals close to them. The infection can spread with predatory individuals, whose objects of hunting are these animals.
Fleas are known to carry the plague. When an insect bites a person, infection occurs. Transmission with lice that live on humans is possible. There is a risk of spreading the plague bacillus through ticks.
There is a risk of penetration of the pathogen if a person works with the skins of animals affected by infections. There is also a danger of getting sick if the meat of an animal that has been ill with the plague is ingested with food. Pathology spreads between people by airborne droplets. A person is characterized by an increased susceptibility to a pathological microorganism.
How to notice?
Pestilence manifests itself as a symptomatology, determined by the form of the disease. The most common is the bubonic form. The disease appears suddenly. At first, the patient is very chilly, the body temperature rises, the head is spinning, the muscles weaken. Disturbed by severe headaches. The person feels weak, nauseous and vomits. Pathology affects the nervous system. The person is frightened, worried, begins to rave. Many tend to want to escape, although there is no specific goal or direction.
With a pestilence, the ability to coordinate movements suffers, speech is disturbed. The patient's gait changes. Lymphadenitis soon joins orbubo. The area affected by this responds with severe pain, a tumor appears. It has fuzzy edges. If you touch the zone, the person will feel pain. The skin is just hot at first, then the hue changes to dark red, then turns blue. Over time, secondary buboes appear. If the patient does not receive treatment, the site fester, opens. A fistula appears, which gradually heals.
Complications
Pestilence often leads to DIC. The term is used to denote blood coagulation within the vascular lumens. This process is disseminated. On average, every tenth patient develops gangrenous lesions. Mostly they are localized on the feet, skin, fingers.
How to clarify?
Earlier, pestilence was determined by symptoms, namely by the appearance of a bubo. Today, doctors have access to more advanced and accurate methods that make it possible to detect the disease earlier. In many ways, they are repelled by the epidemiological situation. In recent years, natural foci have been quickly identified and registered. To clarify the diagnosis, analyze the clinical condition. When a bubo appears, tissue samples are taken to assess the bacterial composition. Be sure to check the substance released from the ulcers.
What to do
Methods of treatment have also changed significantly compared to those that were available to people a few centuries ago. The patient is immediately admitted to the hospital. Treatment is indicated in stationary conditions in the infectiousdepartment, the patient is prescribed antibiotics. After the main course of treatment and the disappearance of all manifestations, when a complete recovery is recorded, a person can be discharged. Previously, cultures for bacteria are done three times. If all three times the results turned out to be negative, they are allowed to leave the medical facility. This occurs a month after recovery or later. It is especially necessary to strictly monitor the timing if the pestilence was in the bubonic form. After recovery, a person is registered with an infectious disease specialist for a quarter of a year.