COMMON ILLNESS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Major food-borne and water-borne infectious diseases include

bacterial Diarrhea,Hepatitis A, and typhoid fever. Mosquito-borne
diseases such as Dengue fever,Malaria, and Japanese Encephalitis pose
considerable health threats as well. The water-contact
disease Leptospirosis is also a common ailment.

DIARRHEA
Causes

A number of diseases and conditions can cause diarrhea, including

 Viruses. Viruses that can cause diarrhea include Norwalk virus,

cytomegalovirus and viral hepatitis. Rotavirus is a common cause of
acute childhood diarrhea.
 Bacteria and parasites. Contaminated food or water can transmit
bacteria and parasites to your body. Parasites such as Giardia lamblia
and cryptosporidium can cause diarrhea.
 Medications. Many medications, such as antibiotics, can cause
diarrhea. Antibiotics destroy both good and bad bacteria, which can
disturb the natural balance of bacteria in your intestines. Other drugs
that cause diarrhea are cancer drugs and antacids with magnesium.
 Lactose intolerance. Lactose is a sugar found in milk and other dairy
products. People who have difficulty digesting lactose have diarrhea
after eating dairy products.
 Fructose. Fructose, a sugar found naturally in fruits and honey and
added as a sweetener to some beverages, can cause diarrhea in
people who have trouble digesting it.
 Artificial sweeteners. Sorbitol and mannitol, artificial sweeteners
found in chewing gum and other sugar-free products, can cause
diarrhea in some otherwise healthy people.
 Surgery. Some people have diarrhea after undergoing abdominal
surgery or gallbladder removal surgery.
 Other digestive disorders. Chronic diarrhea has a number of other
causes, such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease,
microscopic colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.
HEPATITIS A
The hepatitis A virus, which causes the infection, usually is spread when a
person ingests even tiny amounts of contaminated fecal matter. The
hepatitis A virus-infects liver cells and causes inflammation.
The inflammation can impair liver function and cause other signs and
symptoms of hepatitis A.

Hepatitis A virus can be transmitted several ways, such as:

 Eating food handled by someone with the virus who doesn't thoroughly
wash his or her hands after using the toilet
 Drinking contaminated water
 Eating raw shellfish from water polluted with sewage
 Being in close contact with a person who's infected — even if that person
has no signs or symptoms
 Having sex with someone who has the virus

TYPHOID FEVER

Causes
Typhoid fever is caused by virulent bacteria called Salmonella typhi (S.
typhi). Although they're related, S. typhi and the bacteria responsible for
salmonellosis, another serious intestinal infection, aren't the same.

The bacteria that cause typhoid fever spread through contaminated food or
water and occasionally through direct contact with someone who is infected.
In developing nations, where typhoid fever is endemic, most cases result
from contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation. The majority of
people in industrialized countries pick up typhoid bacteria while traveling and
spread it to others through the fecal-oral route.
This means that S. typhi is passed in the feces and sometimes in the urine of
infected people. You can contract the infection if you eat food handled by
someone with typhoid fever who hasn't washed carefully after using the
toilet. You can also become infected by drinking water contaminated with
the bacteria.

Salmonella- Salmonella is a nasty bacterium that sometimes turns up in the

food supply, including chicken, tomatoes, peanuts, salsa, guacamole, and even
pet food. It thrives in the intestinal tracts of animals and humans and can
cause food poisoning. Illnesses range from mild to very serious infections that
can kill vulnerable people.

DENGUE FEVER

CAUSES

Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever spread from human-to-

mosquito-to-human by the bite of mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus.
The dengue virus belongs to a group known as Flavivirus and can be
typically divided into four viral serotypes, DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4,
which are closely related but differ in their antigens. Many species of
mosquitoes under the genus Aedes transmit dengue; in particular, the Aedes
aegypti species is most commonly associated with it and the major cause of
dengue transmission. This species of mosquito breeds in stagnant waters
and usually bites during daylight hours. The virus circulates in the blood for
2-7 days after a person is infected, during which time a mosquito biting the
person would acquire it and in turn bites and infects another person.
MALARIA
Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite. The parasite can be
spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes.

There are many different types of plasmodium parasite, but only five types
cause malaria in humans.

These are:
 Plasmodium falciparum – mainly found in Africa, it's the most
common type of malaria parasite and is responsible for most malaria
deaths worldwide
 Plasmodium vivax – mainly found in Asia and South America, this
parasite causes milder symptoms than Plasmodium falciparum, but it
can stay in the liver for up to three years, which can result in relapses
 Plasmodium ovale – fairly uncommon and usually found in West
Africa, it can remain in your liver for several years without producing
symptoms
 Plasmodium malariae – this is quite rare and usually only found in
Africa
 Plasmodium knowlesi – this is very rare and found in parts of
southeast Asia

ENCEPHALITIS
Encephalitis can occur if an infection spreads to the brain.
Many of the infections associated with the condition are quite common and
are usually mild. Encephalitis only occurs in rare cases.

The condition is most often due to a virus, such as:

 herpes simplex viruses, which cause cold sores and genital herpes(this
is the most common cause of encephalitis)
 the varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles
 measles, mumpsand rubella viruses
 viruses spread by animals, such as tick-borne encephalitis, Japanese
encephalitis, rabies (and possibly Zika virus)
Encephalitis caused by a virus is known as "viral encephalitis". In rare
cases, encephalitis is caused by bacteria, fungi or parasites.
You can catch these infections from someone else, but encephalitis itself
isn't spread from person to person.

LEPTOSPIROSIS

Leptospirosis is caused by a strain of bacteria called leptospira,

which is found in certain animals and can spread to humans.
Many different kinds of animals can carry the bacteria, but it is most
commonly associated with:
 rats and mice

 farm animals, such as pigs, cattle, horses and sheep

 dogs
It's rare to catch leptospirosis from domestic pets, although there have
been cases where the infection was caught from pet rats.
An animal carrying the leptospira bacteria may show no outward signs of
illness. The bacteria live inside the animal's kidneys and can be passed out
in their urine. Bacteria can survive for several weeks, and even
months, when it's passed into soil or water.
You can become infected with the leptospira bacteria if contaminated water
or soil comes into contact with your eyes, mouth, nose, or any open cuts in
the skin.
The bacteria can also be spread through rodent bites or by drinking
contaminated water. Less commonly, it can be passed to humans who come
into close physical contact with the blood or tissues of an infected animal.
Outbreaks of leptospirosis can also occur, particularly at events that involve
close contact with infected water, such as some water sports, or after a
flood.
It's extremely rare for it to be passed from human to human, but it may be
possible during sex, or by an infected mother passing it on to her baby while
breastfeeding.