Public Health and Internal Medicine

It is a fungus discovered in Japan 15 years ago and registered in the United States in 2022 no less than 2377 infected people (CDC). It has rapidly spread to more than 40 countries and is described by WHO as a growing threat to public health. Its highest incidence occurs in elderly or immunocompromised patients, recording a mortality of 60%. It is transported on the skin and clothing. Transmission often occurs in health settings for long-term care. It is presumed that the local increase favored its evolution towards a greater tolerance to heat, also the use of disinfectants and antifungals could have favored its proliferation by eliminating other species. Contact isolation is advised. Resistance to common antifungals exists. Fungal infections kill at least 1.6 million people a year (NGO: Global Action for Fungal Intections).

In Italy there is a laboratory of infertile mosquitoes that is a key tool in the logical solution to fight diseases such as dengue, Chicunguna fever, among other pathologies. The intracellular bacterium Wolbachia makes the males sterile, and in 2 or 3 years the disease they transmit would seem to be from the area. Unlike insecticides, it has no environmental impact. The varieties of mosquitoes that transmit diseases in Europe are the Aedes albopictus and in Latin America the Adedes aegipti. The laboratory also developed a natural larvicide that would remove larvae from the water currents avoiding the spread of vectors and also a non-toxic natural repellent.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, specialists and institutions have warned of the risk of young people suffering from mental disorders. A study by the Psychology Observatory of the University of Buenos Aires reveals that one in eight young people could develop mental disorders. Argentina would be among the countries that have the most difficulty in emerging from the psychological crisis left by the pandemic. The socio-economic situation is serious and the population has fewer emotional resources to cope, there are no higher expectations and negative emotions dominate. Although perhaps the country with the largest number of psychologists in the world by population, access to psychological care is beyond the reach of many for economic reasons. Institutional care, private and public, has long delays in shifts.

The pandemic coincides, mainly because of isolation and restrictions, with an incermento of loneliness, anguish and suicides. In the Americas region, the highest suicide rate is found in men over the age of 70.

WHO argues that too often, unfortunately, suicide is not prioritized as a major public health problem.

For the first time microplastics were found in the bloodstream that were absorbed from the environment (Free University of Amsterdam). Also Italian scientists (Rome) they would have found plastics in the placenta and it is suggested that they could damage the immune system of the fetus.

According to the United Nations, with the pandemic, there is a significant rise in hunger in the world. The relationship between health and disease and nutrition is very close.

According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) food insecurity is when the individual “lacks regular access to sufficient safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and for an active and healthy life”. It may be due to the unavailability of food and/or the lack of resources to obtain it. Food insecurity has different levels of severity.

“When someone is in a situation of severe food insecurity, they have been left without food and have gone a day or more without food. In other words, he most likely went hungry”.

For people with moderate food insecurity, access to food is uncertain. The easily accessible or the cheapest food may not be the most nutritious. The result is increased obesity and other forms of malnutrition. “Highly processed and hypercaloric foods, high in saturated fat, sugars and salt are often cheaper and easier to get than fresh fruits and vegetables”.

Menaka Guruswamy argues that the current pandemic highlighted the inability and unwillingness to prioritize public health, the exception being Western Europe. He noted the lack of debate in the United States on the need for universal health care. She argues that the Covid-19 combines with environmental pollution and recalls that after Beijing, New Delhi is the most polluted city in the world. Health and pollution, two key factors in the face of the pandemic, have not been addressed.

It looks at macro issues of public health, pollution, the environment, climate change, and it is governments that have to change these problems. The law may regulate the conduct, but it cannot change it… She believes that the poorest countries will not have access to vaccines.

Remember that human beings are social beings, which helps us survive as a species, and that’s part of evolution.

Neglected or forgotten diseases are those that involve large population groups and are studied by few researchers because the necessary resources to improve and increase knowledge are not available. This is the case in undeveloped or developing societies, unlike in developed societies, a situation that reveals an imbalance between the needs of the affected populations and the investigation of these prevalent pathologies. Studies show that for every year of potential life lost in the developed world, more than 200 times what is spent for every year of potential life lost in these undeveloped, disadvantaged countries in research and medical care. On the other hand, in these countries about 60% of research funding comes from industrialized countries. The pathological situation is characterized by the so-called “epidemiological transition”, characterized by the persistence of communicable diseases, but there is an upward trend in chronic-degenerative diseases (especially cardiovascular diseases), malignancies and accidents, In other words, non-communicable diseases are the most frequent causes of death in industrialized countries, despite the fact that certain communicable diseases (tuberculosis, VIH-AIDS, pneumonia, etc.) are shared.

Globalization and migration explain the fact that pathologies of various kinds are now spread out among the sick throughout the world, which requires the doctor to expand his knowledge. A study by the Rey Juan Carlos University and Mundo Sano through a questionnaire to sixth-year medical students from several universities in Madrid about the five most important in Spain (Chagas, hydatidosis, leishmaniasis, dengue and stronglydiasis), revealed that only 9% of the 100 students surveyed answered more than half of the questions correctly (El País, May 3, 2017).eglected or forgotten diseases are those that involve large population groups and are studied by few researchers because the necessary resources to improve and increase knowledge are not available. This is the case in undeveloped or developing societies, unlike in developed societies, a situation that reveals an imbalance between the needs of the affected populations and the investigation of these prevalent pathologies. Studies show that for every year of potential life lost in the developed world, more than 200 times what is spent for every year of potential life lost in these undeveloped, disadvantaged countries in research and medical care. On the other hand, in these countries about 60% of research funding comes from industrialized countries. The pathological situation is characterized by the so-called “epidemiological transition”, characterized by the persistence of communicable diseases, but there is an upward trend in chronic-degenerative diseases (especially cardiovascular diseases), malignancies and accidents, In other words, non-communicable diseases are the most frequent causes of death in industrialized countries, despite the fact that certain communicable diseases (tuberculosis, VIH-AIDS, pneumonia, etc.) are shared.

With the recent appearance of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, clinicians, epidemiologists, virologists, and other experts emphasized the permanence of these neglected or forgotten diseases that have higher morbidity and mortality than the Covid-19. Criticism is based on very specific and verifiable situations. Tuberculosis,Dengue, Measles, influenza epidemics originating in “feedlots”, among others. Social diseases with little interest in the media and where governments do not act effectively, dealing with curable diseases and preventable deaths. The health system of a country is not directly related to GDP, the proof is that there are developing countries with a better health system or good population health than others that are classified as developed and are even powerful. The question arises whether this attitude or management of a country’s health does not have a bias of social discrimination or a manifest eugenic disposition.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), hearing pollution is the second largest cause of pollution-
related diseases, after air pollution. The current one is considered the highest in human history.

The 10 noisiest cities in the world would be: Canton (China), New Delhi (India), Cairo (Egypt), Bombay (India), Istanbul (Turkey), Beijing (China), Barcelona (Spain), Mexico City (Mexico), Paris (France) and Buenos Aires (Argentine).

Beyond the different auditory pathologies produced by excess noise (Tinnitis, hearing fatigue, hearing loss, etc.) it is necessary to consider the general disorders on the body such as insomnia, learning problems, stress, as well as the risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that tobacco addiction be treated as a public health problem. The measures recommended by the WHO have been implemented in Turkey and second in Brazil. Only 23 countries would offer treatments at the highest level to stop smoking. Internal Medicine considers it imperative to combat this pandemic.

In the countries of high-income the not transmissible diseases  are the principal reason of death and represent 9 of 10 principal reasons of death. In the countries of low- income the situation is very different, other pathologies are a reason of death. The infection HIV / AIDS already does not figure between the first 10 reasons of death worldwide (WHO).

Yemen, between two continents: Midle East and Africa, a country that shares borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia. It´s the poorest country of the region.

28 million people  with hunger as a result of the war. MSF reported to was  opened a well equipped hospital (Mohka) and it does not obtain doctors to work there. United Nations (ONU) thinks that it is a very insecure area to give medical assistance.

The number of persons who suffer Hunger has increased. The Overweight and the Obesity concern the fourth part of the world population. Between October 29 and 30, 2018 the Summit was done against the Hunger and the Malnutrition in Madrid, under the supervision of the FAO (United Nations Organization for the Food and the Agriculture). The hunger affects 821 million persons in the world (ONU). The new crisis of hunger puts in danger the life of million children (Unicef). And 1 of every 3 women in the world presents chronic anemia. Called all the Parliaments to assure the right to adequate food.