francene--blog. Year 2013
  • Home
  • Blog

February 9th

2/9/2013

 
What is infection? Contamination? Something that corrupts somebody morally?

Two types of an infecting microorganism or agent are rife at the moment.

Firstly: Authorities are alarmed by an emerging spread of measles in England.

Picture
morgueFile
Any unvaccinated children are open to infection. The measles virus can spread through droplets in the air that come out of the nose and mouth when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can easily spread among communities that are poorly vaccinated, particularly toddlers and unvaccinated teenagers.  The initial symptoms include cold-like symptoms, red eyes which are sensitive to light, a fever and greyish white spots in the mouth.

Measles is often associated with being a disease of the past and as a result people may be unaware that it is dangerous infection that can lead to death in severe cases. Before measles vaccine, nearly all children got measles by the time they were 15 years of age.

The infectious period is from around four days before the appearance of a red-brown rash, to around four days after its appearance. In addition, abdominal symptoms may include nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Symptoms usually last about 14 days in all.

One of the earliest written descriptions of measles as a disease was provided by an Arab physician in the 9th century. In 1757, a Scottish physician discovered measles to be caused by an infectious agent present in the blood of patients. In 1954 the virus that causes measles was isolated in Boston, Massachusetts.


Secondly: The computer virus.

Picture
I clicked onto a facebook friend's blog yesterday to find a warning in red. Get me out of here. I use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, which is free from their site. A computer virus is a program that can spread rapidly from one computer to another. Malware is harmful software such as viruses and Trojans designed to cause damage or disruption to a computer system.

I read another news item this morning. Children are playing God by spreading a virus over the internet. Children as young as 11 years old are writing malicious computer codes to hack into accounts on gaming sites and social networks. We teach children they can't take someone else's toy, or steal one from a shop, so schools need to teach them the same message when writing software.

Everyone should be protecting their computer in the same way as a vaccination is used to prevent measles.


caro ness link
2/8/2013 10:10:14 pm

.....measles is a nasty illness... i think the controversy surrounding the rubella jab probably didn't help....

Susie Brown link
2/9/2013 12:20:31 am

Francene, I did not know that the Measles are on the rise again. In the US all of our children are supposed to be vaccinated against it. Hopefully this is not a new strain. Computer viruses (malware) are a scary thing. It is hard for me to imagine that an 11 year old could pose such a threat. I guess this is a sign of the technology age. After hearing about the situation yesterday, I immediately installed malware protection. I had been thinking that my anti virus program for my computer also kept my internet files safe. I see now that I was wrong.

Thank you for this comparison, it was very helpful.

Rosalie Skinner link
2/9/2013 05:24:52 am

So true. A virus can be a scary thing, whether computer virus or one like measles or flu. Hard to think children know how to post them. I am still having trouble working my smart phone and tablet. hehe.
Great post.

Alana link
2/9/2013 10:05:25 am

There is an alarming (in my opinion) trend among people in the United States not to get children vaccinated. In all honesty, I think that we give too many vaccines too soon, and young bodies become stressed. But on the other hand, I do have enough of a knowledge of history in the United States to know that, less than 100 years ago, measles was one of the top 20 causes of death. I am concerned by your report of measles reemerging in your country.

AMummys Life link
2/9/2013 01:35:42 pm

I always make sure my children are up-to-date on their vaccines. My 1 yo is due for his next lot of immunisation shots next month. My 5 yo is set until she's 11.

As for the computer viruses *shudders* hopefully my virus protection works!

Suerae Stein link
2/10/2013 02:19:11 am

Hi Francene. Quite an alarming trend you write about! It seems that measles should be a thing of the past. And I agree with another commenter that here in the US, there are a number of people who don't vaccinate their children because they question the safety of the vaccines. I have both my kids vaccinated up to date.

And the computer viruses... 11 years old? How terrible! Thank you for the post!


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Catastrophe
    Creativity
    Family
    Life Experiences
    Mother
    News
    Novel Writing
    Novel-writing
    Retirement
    World

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from Parker Knight