Infectious Diseases 2024

PULSE Awareness - Students for HIV/AIDS Education and Advocacy - Team 10

Media Type: Infographic

Summary

team_10_image.jpgThe topic for our PULSE assignment was HIV/AIDS. We aimed to advocate for and educate other students on this topic. The topic was chosen as it was presented on more than one occasion within Path 3500, and we collectively found it to be a topic that was harder to grasp. Despite its infectious burden, high death toll, and having been around for a long time, HIV/AIDS is often stigmatized and not well understood. With this, our topic not only assists those who enroll in Pathology 3500, but also helps to educate others about a global disease. The format chosen was Instagram, as it is a very popular social media platform that almost all students are active on. Major topics used for Instagram posts include “What is HIV?”, “Major Defenses against HIV”, “How HIV is transmitted”, “HIV Prognosis”, “HIV History and Survaillance”, and “Ways to treat and prevent HIV”. These topics were developed with the help of ChatGPT 3.5, with the prompt asking it to create topics for an infographic. Both traditional Instagram posts and ‘story’ posts were created to present the information. Note: there is no clear ‘conclusion’ to our Instagram posts as it is presented in a way to be an ongoing educational platform.

Keywords: HIV, AIDS, Instagram, Advocacy, Awareness

Disease Digest - A Polio Perspective: Navigating Challenges & Inspiring Futures - Team 15

Media Type: Magazine

Summary

team_15_image.jpgTopic & Format Selection: We have created a magazine that summarizes all the essential information students need about Poliomyelitis (polio). This includes engaging explanations for complex concepts such as its clinical manifestation, infectious disease transmission, diagnosis, treatment, vaccine development, global eradication efforts, and more. We chose this topic as it allowed us to speak about concepts such as the oral polio vaccine or eradication that may apply to the future careers of many students. We chose this format as it offered unique forms of content delivery to support students of various learning styles, such as using a graphic timeline for polio’s history, an engaging story of a living survivor, and a “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) section.

Importance: It is very important to know about polio’s history, as it was a global burden and had devastating impacts, uplifting many new vaccine developments and eradication initiatives. Knowledge of the successes and challenges in developing the polio vaccine serves as a reminder of the power of medical innovation and collaborative efforts in combating infectious diseases.

Impact: Having future physicians, researchers, public health leaders, or government workers in our classroom, learning about how the world came together to eradicate the disease can help students understand how they can contribute to infectious disease management in the future. Students can also practically learn about infectious diseases to succeed in assessments or case studies on the topic.

Brief Summary: Polio is a highly contagious viral infection with symptoms including fever, headache, muscle weakness, paralysis and death. Poliovirus spreads through contaminated food, water, or contact with an infected person. This infectious disease has held a large global burden, igniting the development of novel vaccines such as the oral polio vaccine or the inactivated polio vaccine. Eradication efforts intensified through widespread vaccination campaigns and surveillance, successfully eradicating it in Canada.

Keywords: Infectious Disease, Poliomyelitis, Poliovirus, Vaccine, Global Health, Disease Eradication

More Than a Bloody Cough—the Specifics of Tuberculosis - Team 16

Media Type: Infographic

Summary

team_16_image.jpgThough tuberculosis is covered in Pathology 3500 as a respiratory and infectious disease, it is not discussed in much further detail. We have chosen tuberculosis because it is an important global health burden, as it is associated with one of the highest mortality rates for bacterial infections. There is a lot more to discover regarding tuberculosis, and we find it is important that students have a broader understanding of this bacterial infection.

We have chosen to create an infographic as they are visually appealing, and easy to navigate. This allows students to easily locate different key components regarding tuberculosis. To make this resource more of an experience rather than simply another academic reading, we have added an interactive case study for students. This allows participants to decide how to proceed if a patient shows various signs, symptoms, and imaging results that line up with a tuberculosis infection. Our infographic is divided into the following sections:

1) The discovery of the causative agent of tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis)
2) Risk Factors – These are personal and/or environmental factors that put certain individuals more at risk for developing a tuberculosis infection (e.g. weakened immune system, socioeconomic factors, etc.)
3) Signs & Symptoms – Signs are visible manifestations associated with a given condition that are identifiable by others (e.g. weight loss). However, symptoms are patient-reported and cannot be empirically verified by others (e.g. chest pain).
4) Types of TB – This depends on which part of the body is infected, whether signs/symptoms are present, and whether the patient has other conditions/infections on top of a TB infection.
5) Diagnosis – Covers the various tests performed on patients suspected of having TB to confirm the presence and/or type of TB present.
6) Treatment/Prognosis - Various anti-tuberculosis drugs are described along with different treatment plans depending on the type of TB present.

Keywords: Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Pulmonary TB, Tuberculin Skin Test, Latent TB infection, Active TB Infection, Antibiotic regimen

Understanding Malaria, a Pathological Framework - Team 41

Media Type: Video

Summary

team_41_image.jpgThe topic for our pulse assignment is malaria. We decided to discuss malaria by looking at how the disease spreads and what factors affect its spread (etiology and epidemiology), objective signs and subjective symptoms of the disease, how the disease progresses (pathogenesis), potential final outcomes (prognosis), and complications to better understand its diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. We decided on a video format for our project as that format allowed us to fit a lot of information in a dense and engaging manner. We began our video by explaining how malaria is spread to people by mosquitos and how to prevent getting the disease by preventing mosquito stings and through the use of drugs. We also discussed where in the world malaria is common and why the climates of those areas allow for the spread of malaria. We then explained the life cycle of the plasmodium parasite that causes malaria and the various symptoms the parasite can cause due to this harmful life cycle. It is important for anyone to know these symptoms when traveling through regions with malaria, so that they can get treatment early and avoid the worst outcomes. We finished our discussion by explaining what tests physicians can order to confirm a malaria infection, and the process in which they decide what treatment is best. Finally, we included multiple-choice knowledge checks to reinforce what the viewer learned.

Keywords: Malaria, Vector-Transmission, Infectious Disease, Parasite, Mosquito