In recent years the world has been shocked to discover the resurgence of old diseases, and viruses, that previously were thought to have been eradicated. Ailments like whooping cough and consumption sound like things your great grandparents had to worry about when they were kids. The medical industry has made incredible advancements in the last few decades through updated approaches and increased quality of information technology, like health informatics, but it seems that many diseases are still coming back on a global scale.
This resurgence has many professionals in the medical field perplexed as to why this is happening. Reports of people, and children, being diagnosed with whooping cough have been increasing across the country. Many doctors had been dismissing the severe deep-chested cough and gasp for air as a bad cold. It wasn't until more reports starting coming in that this disease of the past was now an issue of the day. It probably wouldn't be so much of an issue if the disease weren't so fatal in young children.
Doctors and other officials believe this resurgence was primarily due to a certain air of complacency in the medical field. It was believed to have been totally wiped out so doctors stopped vaccinating children for the dreaded disease. It's also widely believed that the vaccination lasts for a lifetime but public health officials have stated that a person's immunity to whooping cough can being to fade after only five years after the initial inoculation. They say that booster shots are necessary to bolster the average person's immunity and that anyone who is near children or handles them on a regular basis should get a booster for it.
It would be manageable if this was the only issue but it seems that, worldwide, disease previously thought to be on the verge of extinction, are making a furious comeback. Countries like China, for example, are seeing near epidemic outbreaks of diseases like tuberculosis. With so many people in Asia, the healthcare systems in that part of the world are straining under population level. It's been difficult to confront diseases like bird flu without having to completely retool efforts to combat older ones.
It's the hope that with increased advancements in technology and quicker diagnosis will help decrease the diagnosis time and increase the quality of life. The world's population is aging and growing at the same time. Unless the world's governments come up with a more coordinated effort in fighting a lot of these old diseases, it's impossible to know how far these outbreaks will go.
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