Bailey Barton
Mr. Ippolito
Core Biology
January 31, 2017
Why only some people develop life-threatening dengue infections
The article “Why only some people
develop life-threatening dengue infections” shares the ongoing research
assembled by a team studying at The Rockefeller University. Dengue fever is a
known disease that is relatively mild, however studies have shown once received
said virus, one is more susceptible to dangerous secondary infections. The
teams studying this topic, aimed to reveal an explanation for the deadly come
back of dengue fever. When looking only at patients who experienced a secondary
disease, scientists found high levels of a specific type of antibody, which
triggers an immune response. This finding made clear to scientists how the
dengue virus causes antibodies to form in masses as a result of the primary
infection of dengue, and these antibodies are used to inflict more damage when
it returns. Severe forms of the disease, which occurs among those who have been
infected before, can result in the patient developing hemorrhagic fever. This fever
causes fluid leakage from their blood vessels and bleeding abnormally (from
nose, gums, and under the skin). Extreme cases have resulted in the patient
losing a large amount of blood causing them to go into shock. Recently,
scientists have gone more into depth studying the regions of antibodies in
blood, which originated from patients with mild and severe dengue infections.
Researchers ultimately found that patients suffering a more severe case had
reacted previously by producing elevated levels of antibodies, which made them
more vulnerable for infection a second time.
The multiple studies made as a goal
to fight off this secondary infection, overall help in the development of
treatment to prevent worsening conditions of Dengue fever.
Scientists are confident
that with this new knowledge, they will be able to identify patients with
possible severe conditions and treat them early on, as well as creating
vaccines available to those trying to prevent/recover from a secondary disease.
Overall the research is beneficial to anyone at risk for developing the virus,
and definitely those who are experiencing a second occurrence.
Reading the article, I was able to
become more aware of what the dengue virus is and how it affects the population
worldwide due to its form of transmission, which is through mosquitoes.
Although the article was very informative, I found I didn’t have a great
understanding when reading about antibodies and immune cells at first read.
This is due to my lack of knowledge and vocabulary concerning biology at this
point in my education. My disadvantage did create difficulty for me, however,
the article can serve more purpose to a scientists working in this field.
Personally I understand more when shown visual models, for example when trying
to grasp the idea of how the disease reacts with production of antibodies, so I
would respectively suggest that from a less educated perspective.
Citation:
Rockefeller University. "Why only
some people develop life-threatening dengue infections." ScienceDaily.
ScienceDaily, 31 January 2017.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170131124205.htm>.
Katie Quigley
ReplyDeleteCurrent Event 2
Rockefeller University. "Why only some people develop life-threatening dengue infections." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 January 2017. .
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170131124205.htm
I read a current event by Bailey Barton, on the article, "Why only some people develop life-threatening dengue infections.". This review had many strong point, but also had some weak points. I liked that she explained the purpose of the research and was very specific about how the scientists are studying dengue fever, and what the purpose of their research is. She also clearly outlined each step that the scientists took to get their research. The last thing that she did well, was she went into specifics about the findings of the scientists. She clearly explained that the scientists found new research and that their findings were beneficial to the people suffering. This was helpful because it explained to the readers that there is still more research to be done on this topic, and that there might be more data coming out in the future.
While certain aspects of his review are strong, it still had a few flaws. For example, he should have elaborated on the effects the article had on society. She explains that we gained more information about dengue fever. However, he did not go into depth on what this research could actually do to society. The last thing that Bailey could have done better in her review, was to put less of the big scientific words that are hard for most people to understand.
This article caught my eye because my sister went to Asia and got sick. The doctors in Asia thought it was Dengue Fever. It turned out it wasn’t, but I had never heard of Dengue Fever before that incident. This article taught me more about the disease and how it is a problem because it can be deadly if gotten twice. After reading this review, I am glad that my sister did not get Dengue Fever because then she would have to be very careful around mosquitoes in the future.