Darnayla, Jan Adrielle G.

ZGE-4301
20180150418 10/04/2022

Activity Name: Environmental Health

Activity Number: 4

I. Answer the following questions:

1. Why is it important to understand the connections between health and the

environment?

The state of the environment has a direct impact on human health and
wellbeing. Clean air and water, rich land for growing food, as well as energy and
material inputs for production, are all provided by good natural surroundings.
Pollutants can contribute to conditions like heart disease, cancer, and respiratory
illnesses. Low-income individuals are more likely to reside in contaminated
locations and have access to contaminated water. In addition, the risk of
pollution-related health issues is higher for youngsters and pregnant women.

2. What environmental health topic/s are important in your life? Why?

I’d like to talk about climate change. As the current events here in the
Philippines with Typhoons and storms right around the corner. I would like to
raise awareness that this is no measly task. We saw a video of the Current
President of the Philippines to show neglect. “Is that the trend? ‘Yan na yung
climate change? Wala naman tayong ganiyan noon eh. Matagal na tayong
nagbabantay ng bagyo. It’s not, doesn’t… Hindi ganiyan. (Is that climate
change? We didn’t have anything like that before. We’ve been monitoring
typhoons for a long time. It’s not, doesn’t… (sic) It’s not like that.) Oh well. Okay,
so, that’s something we have to deal with.” Although the video shows that he
wasn’t aware of the issue. If you analyze the whole video from the newstv we
could see he was aware of the issue however he treats it as if it was a chore. “Oh
well. Okay, so, that’s something we have to deal with.” He fails to see that the
state of the environment has a direct impact on human health and wellbeing.
Clean air and water, rich land for growing food, as well as energy and material
inputs for production, are all provided by good natural surroundings.

3. What are the major challenges our environmental health professionals face?
Discuss your answer.

Since we could reduce it to four main factors: bad infrastructure, pollution, lack of
access to healthcare, and climate change. Climate change, coupled with the rise
in natural disasters that has accompanied the change in the Earth's climate, is an
environmental concern with major implications for human health. Environmental
scientists refer to any solid, liquid, or gaseous particles that are suspended in the
air and have hazardous or dangerous effects as pollution. Since there are trillions
Darnayla, Jan Adrielle G. ZGE-4301
20180150418 10/04/2022

of microorganisms in the human body and they also reside in water, soil, and the
air, this may also be related to diseases. Living in a place where access to health
care services is limited is another environmental factor that promotes disease
and general poor health outcomes. Community health can also be significantly
impacted by infrastructure problems. This may also be due to a lack of local
health care infrastructure, such as clinics that can administer vaccinations, which
increases the likelihood of local car wrecks due to poorly maintained roads and
lack of access to clean drinking water.

II. Choose 3 emerging infectious diseases and 2 reemerging infectious diseases. Describe
each.

HIV infections, dengue fever, and SARS are examples of emerging diseases.
Malaria and cholera are two examples of reemerging illnesses.
HIV is a sexually transmitted infection that hinders your body's ability to fight
against illness and infection (STI). Additionally, it can be transferred through sharing
needles, injecting illegal substances, and coming into touch with infected blood.
Additionally, it can be passed from mother to kid while she is pregnant, giving birth, or
nursing. Without treatment, it can take years for HIV to progressively impair your immune
system to the point where you develop AIDS.
Any one of the four dengue virus types can cause dengue fever. Being around
someone who has dengue fever won't cause you to catch it. Dengue fever, on the other
hand, is carried by mosquito bites. It typically begins with a fever, joint discomfort, rash,
and nausea. In the absence of therapy, the virus can harm blood and lymphatic vessels
and result in dengue hemorrhagic fever, which is characterized by breathing difficulties,
bruises, and bleeding from the nose, gums, or beneath the skin.
The coronavirus that caused SARS is from the same family of viruses as certain
common colds. SARS transmits from person to person through coughing, sneezing, and
close contact like other respiratory viruses do. Many SARS patients develop pneumonia,
and breathing issues can get so bad that a mechanical respirator is required. Some
cases of SARS result in death, frequently from respiratory failure. Failure of the heart
and liver are further potential consequences.
Plasmodium parasites, which individuals contract through the bites of infected
female Anopheles mosquitoes, are the source of the acute fever sickness known as
malaria. Due to the loss of red blood cells, malaria may result in anemia and jaundice
(yellow skin and eyes). Infections can grow serious and lead to kidney failure,
convulsions, mental confusion, comas, and even death if they are not properly treated.
The intestines become infected with the Vibrio cholerae bacteria, which results in
the acute diarrheal sickness known as cholera. When cholera bacteria are present in
food or drink, people might become ill. A toxin that the bacteria in the small intestine
create is what causes the disease's lethal effects. The toxin makes the body excrete a
ton of water, which causes diarrhea and a quick loss of salts and fluids (electrolytes).