Emerging Infectious Disease - Employee Benefit Program

emerging infectious disease

Any previously unknown communicable illness or any previously controlled contagion whose incidence and prevalence are suddenly rising. In recent years emerging and reemerging infections include bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), Ebola hemorrhagic fever, cholera, plague, hemolytic uremic syndrome caused by Escherichia coli 0157:H7, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, drug-resistant strains of Enterococcus, HIV, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (SARS).

emery

(ĕm′ĕ-rē) A granular mineral substance used as an abrasive.

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy

(em′ĕ-rē-drī′fŭs) [Alan E. H. Emery, British geneticist, b. 1928; Fritz Emanuel Dreifuss, German-born Brit. neurologist, 1926–1997] ABBR: EDMD. One of several rare forms of muscular dystrophy, characterized by muscular degeneration principally in the shoulders, arms, and calves. Cardiac conduction abnormalities resulting in heart block and joint contractures are common complications.

emesis

(ĕm′ĕ-sĭs) [Gr. emein, to vomit] Vomiting. It may be of gastric, systemic, or neurological origin. SEE: antiemetic; aspiration; emetic; vomit.

 PATIENT CARE: The relationship of emesis to meals, administered drugs, or other environmental stimuli should be noted. The presence of any aggravating factors, e.g., pain, anxiety, nauseating medications, pregnancy, neurological conditions, e.g., head trauma, hemorrhage, or tumors; the type of foods eaten; and noxious environmental stimuli; as well as the type of vomiting, amount, color, and characteristics of the emesis are documented. Assistance is provided with oral hygiene, and anti-emetics are administered, if prescribed, to control vomiting. If vomiting leaves the patient weak, dysphagic, or with an impaired sensorium, or if the patient is comatose or has an impaired cough mechanism and is receiving enteral feedings, safety measures are instituted to prevent aspiration of vomitus into the lungs; these include placing the patient in a side-lying position with the head lowered or in a high-Fowler’s position after feeding and having suction and emergency tracheostomy equipment readily available.

 chemotherapy-induced e. Vomiting associated with or caused by drug treatments for cancer. Even though this side effect is usually self-limiting and seldom life-threatening, the prospect of it may produce anxiety and depression in many patients. Treatments may include drugs such as dronabinol, granisetron, lorazepam, prochlorperazine, and steroids, among others.

 gastric e. Vomiting present in gastric ulcer, gastric carcinoma, acute gastritis, chronic gastritis, hyperacidity and hypersecretion, and pressure on the stomach.

 e. gravidarum Vomiting of pregnancy. SEE: hyperemesis gravidarum.

emetic

(ĕ-mĕt′ĭk) [Gr. emein, to vomit] An agent that promotes vomiting. An emetic may induce vomiting by irritating the gastrointestinal tract or by stimulating the chemoreceptor trigger zone of the central nervous system. Some drugs, such as narcotic pain relievers and chemotherapeutic agents used to treat cancer, have emetic properties as unwanted side effects of their administration. SEE: vomiting; vomitus.