Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is defined as illness caused by a novel coronavirus now called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; formerly called 2019-nCoV), which was first identified amid an outbreak of respiratory illness cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. It was initially reported to the WHO on December 31, 2019. On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global health emergency. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, its first such designation since declaring H1N1 influenza a pandemic in 2009.Illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 was termed COVID-19 by the WHO, the acronym derived from “coronavirus disease 2019. The name was chosen to avoid stigmatizing the virus’s origins in terms of populations, geography, or animal associations.

Symptoms

Most people get infected with human strains of coronaviruses at some point in their lives. These illnesses usually last for a short amount of time, and symptoms may include:

Additional symptoms have been reported with COVID-19. Human coronaviruses can cause other more serious illnesses, such as pneumonia or bronchitis. This is more common in individuals with heart and lung disease, those with weakened immune systems, infants, and older adults.

If you are concerned about symptoms, call a healthcare professional and tell them about recent travel or exposures. Do not go directly to the doctor’s office or hospital, where you may infect other people.

Diagnosis

There are laboratory tests to detect human coronaviruses. For COVID-19, viral tests can detect current infection, and antibody tests can detect past infection. If you think you may have a coronavirus, talk to a healthcare professional.

Prevention

Influenza (flu) is a highly contagious viral infection of the nose, throat, and lungs that occurs most often in the late fall, winter, and early spring in the US.

Influenza viruses spread mainly from one individual to another through coughing or sneezing. Less often, they can also spread through touching a contaminated surface and then touching the mouth, eyes, or nose. Individuals can pass flu on to others even before their own symptoms start and for a week or more after symptoms begin.

Symptoms

Flu is not just a common cold. It usually comes on suddenly, and people with flu may have some or all of the following symptoms (think F.A.C.T.S.):

• Fever
• Aches (muscle, body, and headaches)
• Chills
• Tiredness (fatigue)
• Sudden onset
• Cough, runny or stuffy nose, and/or sore throat
• Vomiting and diarrhea (more common in children than adults)

Prevention

The best way to prevent flu is to receive an influenza vaccination every year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone age 6 months and older get vaccinated annually. Flu vaccination is especially important this year to help protect individuals and prevent additional strain on an already overburdened US healthcare system. The best time to get vaccinated is in the early fall, before influenza viruses begin spreading in your community. However, vaccination throughout the flu season is still beneficial. To find locations where vaccines are available by zip code, visit https://vaccinefinder.org/.

Flu vaccines are updated annually to protect against the influenza viruses research indicates are most likely to circulate during the upcoming season. Flu vaccines can vary in how well they work, but even in cases when flu vaccination does not prevent infection completely, it can reduce the severity and duration of disease and prevent serious complications. For more than 50 years, hundreds of millions of individuals in the US have safely received seasonal flu vaccines.

Treatment

Annual flu vaccination is the best way to prevent flu. Antiviral drugs are not a substitute for annual flu vaccination; however, prescription antiviral medications serve as an additional line of defense. CDC recommends that all individuals who are hospitalized, severely ill, or at high risk for developing serious flu-related complications should be treated with antiviral drugs immediately if flu is suspected.
Treatment of flu with antiviral drugs can reduce influenza symptoms, shorten the duration of illness by one to two days, and prevent serious complications, like pneumonia. Antivirals work best when taken within 48 hours of getting sick, but may still be beneficial when given later in the course of illness.
Healthcare professionals may treat patients based on their clinical judgment and knowledge about the level of local flu activity.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By damaging the immune system, HIV interferes with the body’s ability to fight the organisms that cause disease.
HIV is a sexually transmitted infection and can also be spread by contact with infected blood or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breast-feeding. Without medication, HIV gradually weakens the immune system to the point that an infected individual may develop AIDS.

Symptoms

HIV infection happens in three stages. Without treatment, it gets worse over time and eventually overpowers the immune system. Symptoms depend on the stage (Acute, Clinical Latency, AIDS).

Prevention

Various strategies are available to prevent HIV including correctly using condoms during sex, limiting the number of sexual partners, never sharing needles, and abstinence (not having sex). Individuals who are at risk for HIV can protect themselves through pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)—taking daily antiretroviral medicines (ART) before being exposed to the HIV virus. Individuals who think they may have been exposed to HIV should talk to a healthcare professional about post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)—taking ART after being exposed to prevent becoming infected.
If you have HIV, there are actions you can take to avoid transmitting it to others. The most important is taking HIV medicine (ART) as prescribed. If you take HIV medicine as prescribed and stay virally suppressed, you can stay healthy and have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative sex partner.

Treatment

There is currently no cure for HIV/AIDS, but there are medications that can slow the progression of the disease. These drugs have reduced AIDS deaths in many developed nations.

Population

Approximately 1.1 million people in the US are living with HIV today. About 15 percent of them (1 in 7) are unaware they are infected. An estimated 38,000 people became newly infected with HIV in the US each year.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and is spread through contact with the stool (feces) of an infected person or droplets from a sneeze or cough.

Symptoms

Most individuals infected with the virus will not experience any symptoms at all; some individuals will experience minor symptoms such as fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, flu-like symptoms, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the limbs which often resolves completely. In some people, the polio virus can result in paralysis (usually the legs), which can lead to permanent disability and death, in most cases by paralyzing the muscles that help them breathe.

Prevention

Since widespread use of the vaccine in the US, which began in the 1950s, polio has been eliminated in the US. However, the virus continues to circulate in different parts of the world, so it’s important to make sure that those individuals who did not get the vaccine as a young child get it now.

Anyone who did not receive a complete vaccine series (three doses at 2, 4, and 6-18 months, one dose at 4-6 years) as a child should complete the series as soon as possible.

Tetanus, commonly called lockjaw, is a bacterial disease that affects the nervous system. It is contracted through cuts or wounds that become contaminated with tetanus bacteria.

Tetanus, commonly called lockjaw, is a bacterial disease that affects the nervous system. It is contracted through cuts or wounds that become contaminated with tetanus bacteria. The bacteria can get in through deep puncture wounds or cuts like those made by nails or knives, but even a scratch can provide an entryway. Tetanus bacteria are present worldwide and are commonly found in soil and most surfaces. The infection causes severe muscle spasms, leading to “locking” of the jaw, making it hard to open the mouth or swallow. In severe cases, tetanus infections can lead to death by suffocation. Tetanus is a vaccine-preventable disease that is not transmitted from person to person.

Symptoms

Common initial symptoms of tetanus are a headache and muscular stiffness in the jaw (lockjaw) followed by stiffness of the neck, difficulty swallowing, hardening of abdominal muscles, spasms, sweating, and fever. Symptoms usually begin around eight days following infection, but onset may range from three days to three weeks.

Prevention

Vaccination is the best way to prevent tetanus. Due to widespread immunization, tetanus is a rare disease in the US. Most people receive their first dose as children in the form of a combined vaccine called DTaP (diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis). Health officials now recommend that adults and adolescents receive a Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis) or Td (tetanus-diphtheria) booster vaccine every 10 years.

• Fact: Tetanus can be prevented with a safe and effective vaccine.
• Fact: People with tetanus may have to spend several weeks in the hospital under intensive care.
• Fact: Tetanus is not transmitted from one person to another.
• Fact: Recovery from tetanus illness may not result in lifelong immunity. Another infection could occur unless immunization is provided soon after the person’s condition has stabilized.

Ebola is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with a virus that can cause illness in humans and other primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees).

Ebola is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with a virus of the family Filoviridae, genus Ebolavirus. Ebola can cause disease in humans and other primates (monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees).Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, outbreaks have appeared sporadically in several African countries.

Symptoms

It can take anywhere from two to 21 days after infection for symptoms to appear, but the average length of time is 8-10 days. Symptoms include fever (greater than 101.5°F), severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, and unexplained bleeding or bruising.

Prevention

The best way to avoid Ebola is to stay away from areas where the virus is common. If you are in an outbreak area: Avoid infected people, their body fluids, and the bodies of anyone who has died from the disease. Avoid contact with wild animals, like bats and monkeys, and their meat.

Treatment

Symptoms of Ebola virus disease (EVD) are treated as they appear. When used early, basic interventions can significantly improve the chances of survival. These include:

• Providing fluids and electrolytes (body salts) through infusion into the vein (intravenously).
• Offering oxygen therapy to maintain oxygen status.
• Using medication to support blood pressure, reduce vomiting and diarrhea and to manage fever and pain.
• Treating other infections, if they occur.