Research proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Research proposal - Essay Example The Ebola epidemic provides an example of the impact of infectious diseases on public health (Soule, Memish, & Malani, 2012). Other highly infectious diseases, such as the H1N1 Swine Flu and SARS virus also pose a risk to public health because they can spread very quickly. The epidemic indicated that the world is unprepared with regard to handling highly infectious diseases properly. The other issue with regard to the infectious diseases is that the world has become borderless as people can travel from one corner the world to the other within 24 hours; thus, they can aid the spread of communicable diseases. Considering that some of these viruses inhabit the human body for a long period before the manifestation of symptoms, it is possible that individuals can carry and infect others with the viruses as they travel. As a result, new outbreaks are likely to be reported in different parts of the world making any prevention strategies difficult. According to the World Health Organization (2006), such infections can easily lead to pandemics killing millions of people throughout the world within a very short time. The only advantage of infections such as Ebola is that the transmission of the virus from the infected person to the healthy person does not start until the symptoms are manifest. However, some of the viruses are lethal, and the transmission from an infected to a healthy person occurs within minutes. Examples include the SARS and the H1N1 Swine Flu viruses, which are transmitted prior to the manifestation of the symptoms (Kocik, Janiak, & Negut, 2012). It is therefore important to d etermine the level of preparedness of the health care professionals with to the handling of infectious diseases. Furthermore, the level of preparedness of the health care sectors in handling infectious diseases determines the morbidity and mortality rates of