Imagine waking up in the morning, healthy with no symptoms and being on the verge on dying before the day runs out? This sounds scary, right?
In no particular order, below are 10 deadliest diseases in the world that could get you killed in 24 hours:
1. DENGUE FEVER
Dengue fever is a painful, debilitating mosquito-borne disease caused by any one of four closely related dengue viruses. Dengue fever is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with a dengue virus. The mosquito becomes infected when it bites a person with dengue virus in their blood. It can’t be spread directly from one person to another person. The more severe form of dengue is dengue haemorrhagic fever.
2. NECROTIZING FASCIITIS
It is a very serious bacterial skin infection that can kill sufferers within a short period of time. Necrotizing fasciitis is most commonly caused by an infection with group A Streptococcus, commonly known as “flesh-eating bacteria.” You can contract this infection from even a tiny cut. You can get necrotizing fasciitis when bacteria enter a wound, such as from an insect bite, a burn, or a cut. The bacteria that cause necrotizing fasciitis can be passed from person to person through close contact, such as touching the wound of the infected person.
3. EBOLA
Ebola, previously known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a rare and deadly disease. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
4. MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE
Meningococcal disease, also referred to as cerebrospinal meningitis is a contagious bacterial disease caused by the meningococcus (Neisseria meningitidis). Meningococcal disease spreads by person-to-person contact through respiratory droplets of infected people. Meningococcal disease is more common among infants, adolescents and young adults. The most common infection is meningitis, which is an inflammation of the thin tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Meningococci can also cause other problems, including a serious bloodstream infection called sepsis.
5. BUBONIC PLAGUE
Bubonic Plague is an infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is transmitted to humans from infected rats by the oriental rat flea. Symptoms include fever, headache, Muscle pain, seizures and Smooth, painful lymph gland swelling called a bubo that is commonly found in the groin, but may occur in the armpits or neck, most often at the site of the infection (bite or scratch); pain may start before the swelling appears.
6. ENTEROVIRUS D68
Enterovirus D68 was first discovered in 1962 in California. Infants, children and teenagers are at greater risk of enterovirsuses because their immune systems are less likely to have been exposed to the infections. Enterovirus D68 is spread via sufferers’ saliva, and other respiratory secretions, when a person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms of Enterovirus D68 can vary, from the mild, including a fever, runny nose, sneezing, cough and muscle aches to the more severe.
7. CHOLERA
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholera that can kill within hours if left untreated. Cholera is caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water. Cholera is an extremely virulent disease. It affects both children and adults and can kill within hours. Living in or traveling to areas where there is cholera raises the risk of getting it. Around 80 per cent of cases can be treated successfully with oral rehydration salts.
8. MRSA
MRSA, which stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a bacterium that is resistant to many antibiotics. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is caused by a type of staph bacteria that’s become resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections. Anyone can catch MRSA through direct contact with an infected wound. Studies reveal about one in three people carry staph in their nose, usually without any symptoms or illness. Symptoms of MRSA infections include a bump that appears on the skin, which is red, swollen, painful, warm to touch, full of pus and often accompanied by a fever.
9. CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE
Cerebrovascular disease refers to a group of conditions that affect the circulation of blood to the brain, causing limited or no blood flow to affected areas of the brain. A cerebrovascular accident is also known, more widely as a stroke. The most common symptom of a stroke is a sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg, most often affecting one side of the body. The effects of a stroke depend on which part of the brain is injured and how severely it’s affected. Healthy diet, regular physical activity, and not using tobacco products are the keys to prevention.
10. CHAGAS DISEASE
Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). Chagas disease can infect anyone, but is diagnosed most often in children. Left untreated, Chagas disease later can cause serious heart and digestive problems. Chagas disease is curable if treatment is initiated soon after infection. Chagas disease is named after Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano Chagas, a Brazilian doctor who discovered the disease in 1909. The parasite is typically found in Latin America, where it is transmitted to humans via the faeces of triatomine bugs, known as ‘kissing bugs’.
S.O.Z