Rheumatic

Overview

Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that can develop as a complication of inadequately treated strep throat or scarlet fever. Strep throat and scarlet fever are caused by an infection with streptococcus bacteria.

Rheumatic fever is most common in 5- to 15-year-old children, though it can develop in younger children and adults. Although strep throat is common, rheumatic fever is rare in the United States and other developed countries. However, rheumatic fever remains common in many developing nations.

Rheumatic fever can cause permanent damage to the heart, including damaged heart valves and heart failure. Treatments can reduce damage from inflammation, lessen pain and other symptoms, and prevent the recurrence of rheumatic fever.

Symptoms

  • Fever
  • Painful and tender joints — most often in the knees, ankles, elbows and wrists
  • Pain in one joint that migrates to another joint
  • Red, hot or swollen joints
  • Small, painless bumps (nodules) beneath the skin
  • Chest pain
  • Heart murmur
  • Fatigue
  • Flat or slightly raised, painless rash with a ragged edge (erythema marginatum)

 

 

Medicine

Scarlet Fever

Scarlet fever

Scarlet fever is a bacterial illness that develops in some people who have strep throat. Also known as scarlatina, scarlet fever features a bright red rash that covers most of the body. Scarlet fever is almost always accompanied by a sore throat and a high fever.

Scarlet fever is most common in children 5 to 15 years of age. Although scarlet fever was once considered a serious childhood illness, antibiotic treatments have made it less threatening. Still, if left untreated, scarlet fever can result in more-serious conditions that affect the heart, kidneys and other parts of the body.

Symptoms

The signs and symptoms that give scarlet fever its name include:

  • Red rash. The rash looks like a sunburn and feels like sandpaper.
  • Red lines. The folds of skin around the groin, armpits, elbows, knees and neck usually become a deeper red than the surrounding rash.
  • Flushed face. The face may appear flushed with a pale ring around the mouth.
  • Strawberry tongue. The tongue generally looks red and bumpy, and it's often covered with a white coating early in the disease.
  • Fever of 101 F (38.3 C) or higher, often with chills
  • Very sore and red throat, sometimes with white or yellowish patches
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Enlarged glands in the neck (lymph nodes) that are tender to the touch
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Headache

 

 

Medicine

Tetanus

Overview

Tetanus is a serious disease caused by a bacterial toxin that affects your nervous system, leading to painful muscle contractions, particularly of your jaw and neck muscles. Tetanus can interfere with your ability to breathe and can threaten your life. Tetanus is commonly known as "lockjaw."

Thanks to the tetanus vaccine, cases of tetanus are rare in the United States and other parts of the developed world. But the disease remains a threat to those who aren't up to date on their vaccinations. It's more common in developing countries.

There's no cure for tetanus. Treatment focuses on managing complications until the effects of the tetanus toxin resolve.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of tetanus appear anytime from a few days to several weeks after tetanus bacteria enter your body through a wound. The average incubation period is seven to 10 days.

Common signs and symptoms of tetanus include:

  • Spasms and stiffness in your jaw muscles (trismus)
  • Stiffness of your neck muscles
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Stiffness of your abdominal muscles
  • Painful body spasms lasting for several minutes, typically triggered by minor occurrences, such as a draft, loud noise, physical touch or light
  • Fever
  • Sweating
  • Elevated blood pressure

 

Medicine

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a potentially serious infectious disease that mainly affects your lungs. The bacteria that cause tuberculosis are spread from one person to another through tiny droplets released into the air via coughs and sneezes.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria that are spread through the air from person to person. If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal. People infected with TB bacteria who are not sick can take medication to prevent TB disease from developing in the future. Learn to recognize the symptoms of TB disease and find out if you are at risk.

Many strains of tuberculosis resist the drugs most used to treat the disease. People with active tuberculosis must take several types of medications for many months to eradicate the infection and prevent development of antibiotic resistance.

Symptoms

  • Coughing up blood
  • Chest pain, or pain with breathing or coughing
  • Unintentional weight loss
  • Fatigue
  • Fever
  • Night sweats
  • Chills
  • Loss of appetite

 

 

Medicine

vomiting

Nausea and vomiting are not diseases, Vomiting, or throwing up, is a forceful discharge of stomach contents. It can be a one-time event linked to something that doesn’t settle right in the stomach. Recurrent vomiting may be cause by underlying medical conditions. Frequent vomiting may also lead to dehydration, which can be deadly if left untreated.

Nausea and vomiting in adults isn't usually a sign of anything serious and tends to only last 1 or 2 days.

Vomiting is the body’s way of ridding itself of harmful substances from the stomach, or it may be a reaction to something that has irritated the gut.

One of the most common causes of vomiting in adults is gastroenteritis. This is an infection of the gut usually caused by bacteria or a virus, which will normally improve within a few days.

 

Symptoms

Nausea and vomiting commonly occur in those with infections ranging from influenza to gastroenteritis. Symptoms that occur with nausea and vomiting include:

abdominal pain,  diarrhea,  fever,  lightheadedness,  vertigo,  rapid pulse,  excessive sweating, dry mouth,  decreased urination,  chest pain, fainting, confusion,  excessive sleepiness, vomiting blood, food poisoning

  • indigestion
  • infections (associated with bacterial and viral illnesses)
  • motion sickness
  • pregnancy-related morning sickness

 

 

Medicine

Yellow fever

Overview

Yellow fever is a viral infection spread by a particular type of mosquito.

In mild cases, yellow fever causes a fever, headache, nausea and vomiting. But yellow fever can become more serious, causing heart, liver and kidney problems along with bleeding (hemorrhaging). Up to 50 percent of people with the more-severe form of yellow fever die of the disease.

There's no specific treatment for yellow fever. But getting a yellow fever vaccine before traveling to an area in which the virus is known to exist can protect you from the disease.

Symptoms

During the first three to six days after you've contracted yellow fever — the incubation period — you won't experience any signs or symptoms. After this, the infection enters an acute phase and then, in some cases, a toxic phase that can be life-threatening.

Acute phase

Once the infection enters the acute phase, you may experience signs and symptoms including:

  • Fever
  • Headache
  • Muscle aches, particularly in your back and knees
  • Sensitivity to light
  • Nausea, vomiting or both
  • Loss of appetite
  • Dizziness
  • Red eyes, face or tongue

 

 

Medicine

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