Global Health Issues

Sample Answer

Introduction

Corona virus also known as covid19 is a respiratory illness that is caused by a virus. The disease was first discovered in China in 2019. It was discovered in Wuhan City, China. Initially, it was identified as disease with pneumonia-like symptoms, and later confirmed to be caused by SARS-CoV-2virus. The coronaviruses belong to a class of viruses called Coronaviridae family in Nivovirales order. The disease was declared a pandemic in March 2020 when more than 118000 cases were reported globally with more than 114 countries affected by it. Since its first confirmed diagnosis, coronavirus19 has spread to affect almost all the countries across the globe.

Cause

Corona virus disease is a viral infection. It is caused by a virus known as SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 virus. The virus is an RNA virus with crown-like appearance. The appearance is attributed to the glycoproteins that encapsulates it. Covid19 virus belongs to Coronaviridae family in the Nidovirales order. The name for the virus is also attributed to the spikes in its outer surface. The virus is minute in size with nucleic materials that range between 26 and 32 kbs in its length.

Transmission

The main mechanism through which covid19 spreads is through infective respiratory droplets. The droplets that cause the infection are of different sizes. People become infected with the virus when they come into contact with the infected droplets. Close contact between people who has the disease also increases the risk of transmission. The transmission occurs when the person sneezes or coughs and the infective droplets is inhaled or enters through other routes such as the conjunctiva.

Fomites in the immediate environment might also increase the risk of the disease transmission from an infected person. There is also the role of airborne transmission in covid19. Airborne transmission is highly likely in settings where support treatments and procedures that generate aerosols are undertaken. An example is procedures such as open suctioning and endotracheal intubation. Therefore, it is essential that precautionary measures be adopted to minimize disease spread through these mechanisms.

Signs and Symptoms

Pneumonia is the main symptom of covid19. It is mainly characterized by fever, dyspnea, cough, and bilateral infiltrates on radio imaging. These pneumonia-like symptoms arise from sepsis, multi-organ dysfunctional syndromes, and septic shock. Patients also suffer from headaches, sore throat similar to that caused by streptococcus infections, and running nose. Patients also complain or nausea, loss of smell and taste. Therefore, patients should report these signs if experienced.

The patients presenting with the above symptoms are symptomatic. They are highly infectious and should be isolated to minimize further spread of the disease. The need for isolation is attributed to the fact that the infectivity rate of codi19 is high. The patients can easily transmit to people who they come into contact with in their environments. Droplet contact from sneezing or coughing can also spread easily from one patient to another. Therefore, it is important to ensure that adequate preventive measures are embraced.

Global Statistics

Almost all countries globally have been affected by the outbreak of covid19. The number of cases have been rising significantly in most countries despite the adoption of preventive interventions. It is estimated that the current number of people who have been confirmed positive for covid19 is more than 21 million. Of this number, the total population of people that has died due to covid19 is more than 763000.

The number of recoveries globally remains low despite the slowing down of the disease rates. To date, more than 14000 people have recovered from the disease. In terms of ranking, the US leads with the highest rate of confirmed cases and mortalities followed by India and Russia. It therefore increases the need for the adoption of highly effective interventions that aim at reversing the current trends witnessed due to the disease.

Impact

The impacts of covid19 are evident in almost all the sectors of the global economy. The health sector has been affected adversely by the pandemic. The effects of the pandemic on the sector can be seen in the ever increasing rates of new infections globally. Many people across the world are becoming infected with the virus in the daily basis. The consequence of high rate of disease spread is the over-utilization of healthcare services. Health organizations in turn suffer from scarcity in the resources that are needed to address the health needs of the affected patients. The disease has also caused deaths to a high number of patients globally.

The risk for mortality is increased in cases of a co-existing condition such as diabetes and hypertension. There has also been a significant disruption of services in healthcare. There has been a shift of focus from other communicable and non-communicable diseases to covid19. The existing organizational resources that could have been used to address the health needs of patients with other diseases have been diverted for use in covid19. The pandemic has also shutdown the use of public screening services in most countries.

The decision is informed by the need to minimize the risk of disease spread in populations. Staffs have also been reassigned their roles to fill the gaps that are needed for providing care to covid19 patients. Patients and most of the populations have also lost their social and occupational roles. The loss is attributed to the closure of most of the economic drivers and reduced economic activities in the states.

Role of Nurses

Nurses play a critical role in responding to covid19. They act as a link between covid19 patients and the other members of the healthcare team. Nurses spend most of their shifts with the patients. They assess, plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate the adopted plans of care. They also communicate their assessment findings to the other members of health care team to inform the decisions that are made. Nurses also act as health educators. They educate the public and their patients on ways of preventing the disease and health promotion measures. They also act as researchers.

They engage in research to come up with evidence-based interventions to be used in managing covid19, the affected patients and their families. The nurses also act as resource mobilizers. They advocate the allocation of adequate resources for combating the pandemic in their settings and nations. They also optimize the use of the available resources to ensure that adequate care is provided to the patients. They also play a role in disaster preparedness by providing insights into anticipatory measures to be embraced and modeling of the anticipated trajectory of the disease in their countries.

There has also been a significant disruption of services in healthcare. There has been a shift of focus from other communicable and non-communicable diseases to covid19. The existing organizational resources that could have been used to address the health needs of patients with other diseases have been diverted for use in covid19. The pandemic has also shutdown the use of public screening services in most countries.

The decision is informed by the need to minimize the risk of disease spread in populations. Staffs have also been reassigned their roles to fill the gaps that are needed for providing care to covid19 patients. Patients and most of the populations have also lost their social and occupational roles. The loss is attributed to the closure of most of the economic drivers and reduced economic activities in the states.

Role of Nurses

Nurses play a critical role in responding to covid19. They act as a link between covid19 patients and the other members of the healthcare team. Nurses spend most of their shifts with the patients. They assess, plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate the adopted plans of care. They also communicate their assessment findings to the other members of health care team to inform the decisions that are made. Nurses also act as health educators. They educate the public and their patients on ways of preventing the disease and health promotion measures. They also act as researchers.

They engage in research to come up with evidence-based interventions to be used in managing covid19, the affected patients and their families. The nurses also act as resource mobilizers. They advocate the allocation of adequate resources for combating the pandemic in their settings and nations. They also optimize the use of the available resources to ensure that adequate care is provided to the patients. They also play a role in disaster preparedness by providing insights into anticipatory measures to be embraced and modeling of the anticipated trajectory of the disease in their countries.

Efforts/Treatment

Currently, no treatment has been discovered to be effective for covid19. The is also no vaccine that has been developed for the disease. The current management of covid19 mainly relies on the symptoms of the patients. Patients are also provided with oxygen therapy in cases of severe infection. Respiratory failure might warrant the use of mechanical ventilation and hemodynamic support in case of septic shock.

The current efforts that are been embraced globally include intensive research financing to identify the effective ways in which covid19 can be controlled. Health organizations are trying to come up with an effective vaccine that will provide populations with immunity against the disease. However, interventions to minimize spread of covid19 such as use of protective equipment have been implemented.

Current Outcomes

The current outcomes in the management and prevention of covid19 is that prevention of the disease is the best approach that can be utilized. Preventive measures such as maintaining social distance, personal hygiene, use of protective equipment, and reporting suspicious symptoms remain the most effective interventions for covid19. Countries have also started their clinical trials of covid19 vaccine.

Countries such as the US, UK, China, and Russia have began testing the effectiveness of their vaccines in treating and providing immunity against covid19. The use of preventive strategies have seen the flattening of disease curve in some countries. An example is China and Italy where the covid19 spread was managed effectively with the use of interventions that promote health.

References

• Di Gennaro, F., Pizzol, D., Marotta, C., Antunes, M., Racalbuto, V., Veronese, N., & Smith, L. (2020). Coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) current status and future perspectives a narrative review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(8), 2690.
• Jackson, D., Bradbury‐Jones, C., Baptiste, D., Gelling, L., Morin, K., Neville, S., & Smith, G. D. (2020). Life in the pandemic Some reflections on nursing in the context of COVID‐19. Journal of clinical nursing.
• Shereen, M. A., Khan, S., Kazmi, A., Bashir, N., & Siddique, R. (2020). COVID-19 infection Origin, transmission, and characteristics of human coronaviruses. Journal of Advanced Research.
• Velavan, T. P., & Meyer, C. G. (2020). The COVID‐19 epidemic. Tropical medicine & international health, 25(3), 278.
• World Health Organization. (2020). Modes of transmission of virus causing COVID-19 implications for IPC precaution recommendations scientific brief, 27 March 2020 (No. WHO/2019-nCoV/Sci_Brief/Transmission_modes/2020.1). World Health Organization.