Dysentery represents a plaque not just of the intestines, but a plague of developing nations as well. Lack of potable water and malnutrition create an environment for disease to flourish. US foreign aid has been primarily for show and not effect. More money is spent on war in developing countries than in making basic attempts (water, sanitation, food) to bring them out of the third world. America has taken an almost isolationist policy in its proactive foreign relations; saving the world without guns is no longer our concern. Dysentery represents one of the problems plaguing developing nations.
According to the CDC's Division of Parasitic Diseases, several protozoan species in the genus Entaamoeba infect humans. Specifically, Entamoeba histolytica is the pathogenic ameba associated with dysentery, colitis, appendicitis and other diseases.
[...] The dissenting opinion says America got a black eye for its invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11. Even if pulling developing nations into livable standards costs more than warring with them in the short term, we will reap the dividends later. Idealistic expectations of world peace and liberty become more realistic when every man, woman, and child has enough to eat and clean water to drink. Works Cited American Red Cross. Tsunami Relief and Recovery Program. http://www.redcross.org/tsunamirelief/food/ BBC News. [...]
[...] Dysentery becomes a major health concern in third world countries where an easily treatable disease quickly becomes a life threatening illness. Chronic diarrhea, classified as two weeks or more by the DPD, can be a serious health issue for those with weakened immune systems, small children or the elderly. The infected have trouble eating are subject to the same lack of food and contaminated water as before, thus creating a vicious cycle often resulting in death. Epidemics happen in impoverished areas; according to the UN, the highest fatality rates occur in children. [...]
[...] In a study of troops from New Zealand of hospital admissions “were for diseases of the alimentary system.” (Duncan and Stout) During the battle of Gallipoli in August 1915 dysentery was responsible for a high number of the 120,000 casualties over a period of three months. Many were result of Shiga bacillus. Dysentery affects all parts of the globe, not just the developing world. Currently, victims of Hurricane Katrina experienced third-world-esque conditions in some areas, leaving them open for exposure to outbreaks of disease. [...]
[...] There is a higher incidence of dysentery in developing countries; in industrialized countries risk groups include homosexuals, travelers and institutionalized communities (DPD 1). Symptoms of dysentery include fever, bloody stool, intestinal pain, vomiting, dehydration and an increased risk for opportunistic infection. Between 5 and 15% of those who contract dysentery die. Unknown are the others who die of other diseases caused by the complications and weakened immune systems of those who contracted dysentery. Contaminated water is a hard reality for much of the world. [...]
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