These are the things that I (and the group) am hoping to get done, so let's cross our fingers!
1. Properly sketch the syringe and know the components
2. Buy Materials
3. Do Janel's molecular structure of our drug homework thing
4. Research content for syringe measuring lines
5. Write the content for syringe measuring lines
6. Blog everything in the process
7. Write short story
This list will probably get longer, but hopefully it will keep me on track.
P.S. Note to Self: Last project of the year, so let's go out with a bang!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Geography & Pharmacology
From the top of my head...well mostly:
Geography
Who has access to the drug?
The United States and other first world countries have access to penicillin. Sub-Saharan Africa has limited access to the antibiotic, but subsides to using oily chloramphenicol because of the lower cost and availability.
What impact does location in the world have on: a) exposure to the disease? b) conditions that cause it?
Location plays a huge role in the exposure of meningitis. In Sub-Saharan Africa, epidemics of meningitis are caused by the living quarters of the people. The close living spaces in Africa and the close living spaces in the United States (dorm rooms) increase the spread of meningitis because the bacterial disease is transmitted through coughing, sneezing, and kissing.
How has the disease evolved due to human or animal migration?
The disease has evolved due to humans living more closely together in tighter living spaces.
How does climate affect exposure to the disease?
In Sub-Saharan Africa during the dry season, dust winds can occur that cause respiratory track infections that increase the symptoms causing meningitis.
Pharmacology
What drug is used to treat the disease?
Penicillin is used to treat the drug in the United States and oily chloramphenicol is used in Sub-Saharan Africa.
How does the drug work in regard to: a) interaction with biological systems? b) molecular structure/functional groups?
Penicillin kills bacteria by interfering with the ability to synthesize cell wall. Escherichia coli were incubated in penicillin for 30 minutes. The bacteria lengthen, but cannot divide. Eventually the weak cell wall ruptures.
How was the drug developed?
Penicillin was originally developed by a man named Alexander Flemming, but it wasn't until years later that Dr. Howard Florey started extensively researching on how penicillin actively kills bacteria.
Who has access to the drug?
First-world and rich countries
What is the cost of the drug?
Penicillin is cheap for Americans, but Africans have a hard time getting it because of the cost and availibility.
Are there potentially detrimental side effects?
There are no detrimental side effects of penicillin, but allergic reactions, diarrhea, chills, flu-like symptoms, seizures, and agitation can occur in some cases.
Are there more then one possible treatments? What are they?
Aside from penicillin, meningitis can be treated with oily chloramphenicol.
Here's what I think: Most of the questions I answered without using the internet, I think it will be interesting to see how much I answered correctly. Miles and Samara still have to do there two boxes, and I think as a group we will go over our answers, so we all have a basic understanding of our disease and drug. Overall, the research is comming along pretty good so far, but we need to focus on our text for the syringe!
P.S. Samara still won't even consider a meningitis vaccination, even after she watched the video.
Geography
Who has access to the drug?
The United States and other first world countries have access to penicillin. Sub-Saharan Africa has limited access to the antibiotic, but subsides to using oily chloramphenicol because of the lower cost and availability.
What impact does location in the world have on: a) exposure to the disease? b) conditions that cause it?
Location plays a huge role in the exposure of meningitis. In Sub-Saharan Africa, epidemics of meningitis are caused by the living quarters of the people. The close living spaces in Africa and the close living spaces in the United States (dorm rooms) increase the spread of meningitis because the bacterial disease is transmitted through coughing, sneezing, and kissing.
How has the disease evolved due to human or animal migration?
The disease has evolved due to humans living more closely together in tighter living spaces.
How does climate affect exposure to the disease?
In Sub-Saharan Africa during the dry season, dust winds can occur that cause respiratory track infections that increase the symptoms causing meningitis.
Pharmacology
What drug is used to treat the disease?
Penicillin is used to treat the drug in the United States and oily chloramphenicol is used in Sub-Saharan Africa.
How does the drug work in regard to: a) interaction with biological systems? b) molecular structure/functional groups?
Penicillin kills bacteria by interfering with the ability to synthesize cell wall. Escherichia coli were incubated in penicillin for 30 minutes. The bacteria lengthen, but cannot divide. Eventually the weak cell wall ruptures.
How was the drug developed?
Penicillin was originally developed by a man named Alexander Flemming, but it wasn't until years later that Dr. Howard Florey started extensively researching on how penicillin actively kills bacteria.
Who has access to the drug?
First-world and rich countries
What is the cost of the drug?
Penicillin is cheap for Americans, but Africans have a hard time getting it because of the cost and availibility.
Are there potentially detrimental side effects?
There are no detrimental side effects of penicillin, but allergic reactions, diarrhea, chills, flu-like symptoms, seizures, and agitation can occur in some cases.
Are there more then one possible treatments? What are they?
Aside from penicillin, meningitis can be treated with oily chloramphenicol.
Here's what I think: Most of the questions I answered without using the internet, I think it will be interesting to see how much I answered correctly. Miles and Samara still have to do there two boxes, and I think as a group we will go over our answers, so we all have a basic understanding of our disease and drug. Overall, the research is comming along pretty good so far, but we need to focus on our text for the syringe!
P.S. Samara still won't even consider a meningitis vaccination, even after she watched the video.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Raya Sized Syringe
So, the three of us are building a "Raya sized" syringe. Samara is going to be in charge of what the context says and if it is acurate, Miles is going to be the leader of how we are actually building the syringe, and I am in charge of the aesthetics, and making sure it all looks pretty and acurate. That is where we are at so far. This week we will hopefully have most of the materials to start building, and Samara and I will research and write the measurement line text. I am really looking forward to how everything turns out and i pray that we will get everything done on time. Hopefully Miles will let me put up one of his sketches so you can see the direction we are taking in this project.
P.S. I still need to write my short story on top of this project. So cheers for now.
P.S. I still need to write my short story on top of this project. So cheers for now.
Drugs of Choice
Penicillin is an antibiotic for bacterial diseases, so it does make sense that it would be used to treat meningitis. Let me put it into context for you.
Who: Dr. Howard Florey and colleagues
What: began research on penicillin’s ability to cure bacterial diseases
When: 1939
Where: Oxford College, United States
Why: to find a cure for bacterial diseases
So basically, when penicillin was created it was considered a miracle drug of the 1940s.
This is how it works: "Penicillin kills bacteria by interfering with the ability to synthesize cell wall. In this sequence, Escherichia coli were incubated in penicillin for 30 minutes. The bacteria lengthen, but cannot divide. Eventually the weak cell wall ruptures (last panel)."
http://www.cellsalive.com/pen.htm
So in other words penicillin attacks the bacteria so that it can not multiply, and then it eventually explodes...makes sense.
Oily Chloramphenicol is antibiotic that is effective against bacteria. Is rarely prescribed for infections that can be treated with other antibiotics because of its toxicity.
Penicillin Vs. Oily Chloramphenicol
During the 1999 meningitis epidemic in Africa, 793 people were treated with antibiotics. Of these people, 143 of them were treated with penicillin and because of limited stock, the rest of the people were treated with a single dose of oily chloramphenicol.
Here are the Results: "Males were slightly more affected than females (1.3:1), mean age affected was 17.2 years, the majority being below 20 years of age (68%) while 27.3% were below 10 years. The peak of the epidemic was during late March and early April namely 9th and 10th epidemic weeks. In the penicillin group 87.1% recovered uneventfully, 6.4% died, 2.1% developed blindness and 1.5% partial deafness. In the chloramphenicol group, full recovery was reported in 92.8%, 5% fatalities, blindness in 0.5%, partial deafness in 0.3% and skin necrosis in 0.1%. So, obviously the oily chloramphenicol was a lot more efficient in curing the patients. It is easy to use, cheap, and safe, and will probably be to treat epidemics in the future, rather then penicillin."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12174228&dopt=Abstract
Here's what I think: Medicine is so much more complicated then anyone could ever imagine. Maybe, the oily chloramphenicol is better to treat people in Africa with, and penicillin is better for Americans. The whole antibiotics deal is very interesting to me, but thoes results that I found blew me away!
P.S. Since we are focusing on the meningitis belt in Africa, maybe our syringe should be of oily chloramphenicol.
Who: Dr. Howard Florey and colleagues
What: began research on penicillin’s ability to cure bacterial diseases
When: 1939
Where: Oxford College, United States
Why: to find a cure for bacterial diseases
So basically, when penicillin was created it was considered a miracle drug of the 1940s.
This is how it works: "Penicillin kills bacteria by interfering with the ability to synthesize cell wall. In this sequence, Escherichia coli were incubated in penicillin for 30 minutes. The bacteria lengthen, but cannot divide. Eventually the weak cell wall ruptures (last panel)."
http://www.cellsalive.com/pen.htm
So in other words penicillin attacks the bacteria so that it can not multiply, and then it eventually explodes...makes sense.
Oily Chloramphenicol is antibiotic that is effective against bacteria. Is rarely prescribed for infections that can be treated with other antibiotics because of its toxicity.
Penicillin Vs. Oily Chloramphenicol
During the 1999 meningitis epidemic in Africa, 793 people were treated with antibiotics. Of these people, 143 of them were treated with penicillin and because of limited stock, the rest of the people were treated with a single dose of oily chloramphenicol.
Here are the Results: "Males were slightly more affected than females (1.3:1), mean age affected was 17.2 years, the majority being below 20 years of age (68%) while 27.3% were below 10 years. The peak of the epidemic was during late March and early April namely 9th and 10th epidemic weeks. In the penicillin group 87.1% recovered uneventfully, 6.4% died, 2.1% developed blindness and 1.5% partial deafness. In the chloramphenicol group, full recovery was reported in 92.8%, 5% fatalities, blindness in 0.5%, partial deafness in 0.3% and skin necrosis in 0.1%. So, obviously the oily chloramphenicol was a lot more efficient in curing the patients. It is easy to use, cheap, and safe, and will probably be to treat epidemics in the future, rather then penicillin."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12174228&dopt=Abstract
Here's what I think: Medicine is so much more complicated then anyone could ever imagine. Maybe, the oily chloramphenicol is better to treat people in Africa with, and penicillin is better for Americans. The whole antibiotics deal is very interesting to me, but thoes results that I found blew me away!
P.S. Since we are focusing on the meningitis belt in Africa, maybe our syringe should be of oily chloramphenicol.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The Mengi Belt
Suspected meningitis cases, deaths, reported to WHO by affected countries in Africa, as of 17 March 2006
Country,Cases,Deaths
Burkina Faso*,3636,399
Côte d'Ivoire,130,40
Kenya,74,15
Mali,160,9
Niger,614,44
Sudan W. Darfur IDP camps **,28,1
Sudan other states,526,23
Uganda Gulu district ***,37,5
Uganda other districts,514,44
Total: 5719 cases and 580 deaths
* Total number of cases includes number of deaths
2007
Sudan: 1000 people died in a week from meningitis in the midst of a civil war.
“There is an outbreak of meningitis…spreading fast throughout the state and there is fear it may affect other neighboring states,” Anthony Bol Madut
Uganda: 241 cases and 16 deaths in the first three weeks of the New Year
Burkina Faso: In this years epidemic 19,549 people have been infected with Meningitis from January-April, 2,000 people have become disabled, and 1,337 people have already died
http://mediaglobal.org/index.php/2007/01/26/deadly-outbreak-in-africa%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cmeningitis-belt%e2%80%9d/
Here’s what I really think?
The essential question that we came up with is what social, economic, or environmental factors cause the sub-Saharan African “Meningitis Belt” to have large epidemics of Meningitis which rarely occur in first-world countries? So, I thought it would be smart to actually research the Meningitis Belt and how organizations like WHO are helping to prevent the disease in these countries. In case I haven’t mentioned it already, the group has decided to build a syringe with facts on it. We are all super excited about it! I am sure you can tell! I have decided that my future goal for this project is to research on the vaccinations they use to treat the people of the meningitis belt so that we can properly write and organize our syringe steps. I should also learn about penicillin, since that is our drug of choice; I will save it for the next blog. Cheers for now.
P.S. I have decided that Africa has too many problems. Also, Samara should watch my meningococcal video.
Country,Cases,Deaths
Burkina Faso*,3636,399
Côte d'Ivoire,130,40
Kenya,74,15
Mali,160,9
Niger,614,44
Sudan W. Darfur IDP camps **,28,1
Sudan other states,526,23
Uganda Gulu district ***,37,5
Uganda other districts,514,44
Total: 5719 cases and 580 deaths
* Total number of cases includes number of deaths
2007
Sudan: 1000 people died in a week from meningitis in the midst of a civil war.
“There is an outbreak of meningitis…spreading fast throughout the state and there is fear it may affect other neighboring states,” Anthony Bol Madut
Uganda: 241 cases and 16 deaths in the first three weeks of the New Year
Burkina Faso: In this years epidemic 19,549 people have been infected with Meningitis from January-April, 2,000 people have become disabled, and 1,337 people have already died
http://mediaglobal.org/index.php/2007/01/26/deadly-outbreak-in-africa%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cmeningitis-belt%e2%80%9d/
Here’s what I really think?
The essential question that we came up with is what social, economic, or environmental factors cause the sub-Saharan African “Meningitis Belt” to have large epidemics of Meningitis which rarely occur in first-world countries? So, I thought it would be smart to actually research the Meningitis Belt and how organizations like WHO are helping to prevent the disease in these countries. In case I haven’t mentioned it already, the group has decided to build a syringe with facts on it. We are all super excited about it! I am sure you can tell! I have decided that my future goal for this project is to research on the vaccinations they use to treat the people of the meningitis belt so that we can properly write and organize our syringe steps. I should also learn about penicillin, since that is our drug of choice; I will save it for the next blog. Cheers for now.
P.S. I have decided that Africa has too many problems. Also, Samara should watch my meningococcal video.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Overview
Meningococcal (ME-NING-GO-KOK-AL) disease is a serious bacterial infection. It can cause meningitis—severe swelling of the brain and spinal cord
NOTES
Overview: 1805- Meningococcal was first known when an outbreak occurred in Geneva, Switzerland; 12 subtypes of meningitis have been identified, 4 subtypes can cause epidemics
Disease Transmission: Bacteria are transmitted from person to person (no animals) through respiratory droplets or throat secretions (ex: kissing, coughing, sneezing, and sharing close quarters, drinks, and utensils).
Diagnosis: examinations of bacteria in spinal fluid
Treatment: antibiotics include penicillin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and ceftriaxone. In Africa oily chloramphenicol is the drug of choice in areas with limited health facilities because a single dose of this long-acting formulation has been shown to be effective.
Who is affected and where?: Cases increase in winter and spring in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. United States: popular amongst college students (dorm rooms), high school students, and adolescents
The African Meningitis Belt: Sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal-Ethiopia), 300 million people; dry climates with wind cause respiratory track infections and overcrowded housing increase symptoms for meningitis. In 1996 Africa experienced the largest meningococcal meningitis epidemic with 250,000 cases and 25,000 deaths. Most affected countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, and Niger.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs141/en/index.html
Now Here's What I Really Think: For this project I think that it would be interesting to compare the effects of meningococcal meningitis from its epidemics in Africa to its popularity in the United States. One thing that I noticed that they both had in common were that the disease spreads when people are close in contact with eachother (dorm rooms in the US and housing in Africa), and this is how many people become affected. Also one thing that I found very interseting was that in Africa the oily chloramphenicol is used to treat people because of its long term effects. What exactly is this drug and how does it work? Does it prolong the human life and does it work to help cure the disease? I think it is interesting that this drug is given to people in Africa and I am really interested in how it really works. I want to research more in what is being done to prevent this disease and I think that because it occurs almost everywhere, how the environment plays a role in contracting the disease. There are 12 subtype groups of meningitis and I would like to understand why the different types occur in different areas and what are the major differences between them. Penicillin is the drug that we would be studying and so I would want to see how it treats bacterial diseases. While researching I realized how serious this disease actually is and if you don't see a doctor right away, it could be fatal.
If this doesn't make you want to get a Meningitis vaccination...I don't know what will.
http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=42829
P.S. Samara's Blog makes me laugh, I only wish I could be as honest as her and Miles brown template makes me smile. :)
NOTES
Overview: 1805- Meningococcal was first known when an outbreak occurred in Geneva, Switzerland; 12 subtypes of meningitis have been identified, 4 subtypes can cause epidemics
Disease Transmission: Bacteria are transmitted from person to person (no animals) through respiratory droplets or throat secretions (ex: kissing, coughing, sneezing, and sharing close quarters, drinks, and utensils).
Diagnosis: examinations of bacteria in spinal fluid
Treatment: antibiotics include penicillin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and ceftriaxone. In Africa oily chloramphenicol is the drug of choice in areas with limited health facilities because a single dose of this long-acting formulation has been shown to be effective.
Who is affected and where?: Cases increase in winter and spring in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. United States: popular amongst college students (dorm rooms), high school students, and adolescents
The African Meningitis Belt: Sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal-Ethiopia), 300 million people; dry climates with wind cause respiratory track infections and overcrowded housing increase symptoms for meningitis. In 1996 Africa experienced the largest meningococcal meningitis epidemic with 250,000 cases and 25,000 deaths. Most affected countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, and Niger.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs141/en/index.html
Now Here's What I Really Think: For this project I think that it would be interesting to compare the effects of meningococcal meningitis from its epidemics in Africa to its popularity in the United States. One thing that I noticed that they both had in common were that the disease spreads when people are close in contact with eachother (dorm rooms in the US and housing in Africa), and this is how many people become affected. Also one thing that I found very interseting was that in Africa the oily chloramphenicol is used to treat people because of its long term effects. What exactly is this drug and how does it work? Does it prolong the human life and does it work to help cure the disease? I think it is interesting that this drug is given to people in Africa and I am really interested in how it really works. I want to research more in what is being done to prevent this disease and I think that because it occurs almost everywhere, how the environment plays a role in contracting the disease. There are 12 subtype groups of meningitis and I would like to understand why the different types occur in different areas and what are the major differences between them. Penicillin is the drug that we would be studying and so I would want to see how it treats bacterial diseases. While researching I realized how serious this disease actually is and if you don't see a doctor right away, it could be fatal.
If this doesn't make you want to get a Meningitis vaccination...I don't know what will.
http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=42829
P.S. Samara's Blog makes me laugh, I only wish I could be as honest as her and Miles brown template makes me smile. :)
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