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.