Pulmonary plague is a rare but highly transmissible infection, caused by bacteria Yersinia pestis: the same responsible for the bubonic plague - which killed, in the Middle Ages, a frightening number of people. Unlike this one, whose micro-organism is transmitted by the bite of the mouse flea or injuries caused by contaminated animals, in pulmonary plague the contamination occurs through the airways, through contact with droplets of saliva or contaminated nasal secretions, and the pathogen becomes lodged in the lungs.
With incubation period which varies between one and seven days, the patient starts to feel chest pain, high fever, chills and headache, eliminating secretions with pus and blood during coughing.
O diagnosis it can be done through blood tests and culture analysis of oropharyngeal secretions. However, due to the rapid evolution of the disease, it is often necessary to start treatment even before the results are provided.
Medical follow-up is indicated within 15 hours after the onset of symptoms, and the use of penicillin is not recommended. It may be necessary to use medication by people who have come into contact with victims.
If not treated in time, the patient may suffer from respiratory failure, circulatory collapse and/or hemorrhage, leading to death in approximately four days. This factor, together with the high transmissibility of the bacteria, made it to be used by bioterrorists; for Japan, in World War II; and by the US in the 1950s.
In 2005, there was a large outbreak of this disease in Congo, with approximately 60 deaths. More recently, in 2009, the city of Ziketan in Qinghai Province, China, was placed under quarantine due to outbreaks of the disease. In this case, it is believed that pulmonary plague was transmitted by a dog. This one, who would have died after feeding on an infected marmot, was buried by the same man who, three days later, died as a result of the plague.
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THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH WARNS:
Self-medication can have unwanted and unanticipated effects, as the wrong medicine not only does not cure, it can worsen your health.
By Mariana Araguaia
Graduated in Biology
Brazil School Team
See more!
Black Plague
Diseases Caused by Bacteria - Illnesses - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
ARAGUAIA, Mariana. "Lung plague"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/doencas/peste-pulmonar.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
