September
2014 marks the eleventh annual National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency in the US Department of Homeland Security. One goal of Homeland Security is to educate the public about
how to prepare for emergencies, including natural disasters, mass casualties,
biological and chemical threats, radiation emergencies, and terrorist attacks. Visit our Blog all this week to learn valuable
tips for preparing for unexpected events.
#4 - Understand Quarantine and Isolation
People can be infected
with dangerous diseases in a number of ways. Some germs, like those causing
malaria, are passed to humans by animals. Other germs, like those that cause
botulism, are carried to people by contaminated food or water. Still others,
like the ones causing measles, are passed directly from person to person. These
diseases are called "contagious".
Contagious diseases
that pose a health risk to people have always existed. While the spread of many
of these diseases has been controlled through vaccination and other public
health efforts, avian influenza ("bird flu") and terrorist acts
worldwide have raised concerns about the possibility of a disease risk. That
makes it important for people to understand what can and would be done to
protect the public from the spread of dangerous contagious diseases.
The CDC applies the
term "quarantine" to more than just people. It also refers to
any situation in which a building, conveyance, cargo, or animal might be
thought to have been exposed to a dangerous contagious disease agent and is
closed off or kept apart from others to prevent disease spread.
The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the U.S. government agency responsible
for identifying, tracking, and controlling the spread of disease. With the help
of the CDC, state and local health departments have created emergency
preparedness and response plans. In addition to early detection, rapid diagnosis,
and treatment with antibiotics or antivirals, these plans use two main
traditional strategies —quarantine and isolation— to contain the spread
of illness. These are common health care practices to control the spread of a
contagious disease by limiting people's exposure to it.
The difference between quarantine and
isolation can be summed up like this:
·
Isolation applies to persons who are known to be ill
with a contagious disease.
·
Quarantine applies to those who have been exposed to a
contagious disease but who may or may not become ill.
Definitions
Infectious disease: a disease caused by a microorganism and therefore
potentially infinitely transferable to new individuals. May or may not be
communicable. Example of non-communicable is disease caused by toxins from food
poisoning or infection caused by toxins in the environment, such as tetanus.
Communicable disease: an infectious disease that is contagious and which can
be transmitted from one source to another by infectious bacteria or viral
organisms.
Contagious disease: a very communicable disease capable of spreading
rapidly from one person to another by contact or close proximity.
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