Hemorrhagic fevers are a group of diseases, which are caused by a number of distinct viral families. Generally, viral hemorrhagic fever is employed to depict a severe multisystem syndrome in that it affects many body organ systems. Typically, the general vascular system is destroyed, and the ability of the body to regulate itself is damaged (WHO).
Specific symptoms and signs differ based on the type of viral Hemorrhagic fevers, but early signs and symptoms frequently include fatigue, loss of strength, dizziness, marked fever, muscle aches, as well as tiredness. Persons with severe viral hemorrhagic fevers cases often exhibit symptoms of bleeding under the skin, in internal organs, or from orifices of the body such as the eyes, mouth, or ears. Nevertheless, even though they might bleed from several sites in the body, patients seldom die due to loss of blood. Severely sick patient instances may as well demonstrate shock, malfunction of the nervous system, delirium, seizures, and coma. Some viral hemorrhagic fevers types are linked to renal failure (CDC).
For treatment, patients get supportive therapy, although in general, there is no established cure or other treatment for viral hemorrhagic fevers. Ribavirin, which is an anti-viral drug, has been effectual in the treatment of a number of individuals with HFRS or Lassa fever. Convalescent-phase plasma treatment has been utilized with success in a number of patients suffering from Argentine hemorrhagic fever.
Viral hemorrhagic fevers have historical significance where in the 1793Yellow Fever Epidemic, in Pennsylvania, 5000 persons were died between 1st August and 9th November. The huge majority of them were killed by yellow fever, rendering the epidemic in the city with a population of 50,000 people among the most severe in the history of United States. The rate of mortality rose to the maximum in October before frost eventually killed the mosquitoes and ended the epidemic in the month of November (Powell).
Works Cited
CDC. Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. 19 June 2013. 10 July 2013. <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/vhf.htm>.
Powell, John Harvey. Bring Out Your Dead: The Great Plague of Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in 1793. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.
WHO. Haemorrhagic fevers, Viral. 2013. 10 July 2013. <http://www.who.int/topics/haemorrhagic_fevers_viral/en/>.
