Puberty and #YOLO!

Pu·ber·ty  (pybr-t)
Noun

The stage of adolescence in which an individual becomes physiologically capable of sexual reproduction.

Alright, everyone's going to have to deal with this one, sometime in their lives.
My fellow lady folks start growing boobs, our hips start widening, and we'll also get to deal with our monthly visitor.. Egh.
My counterpart however, gets to deal with facial hair growth, among others. You men are so lucky you don't get to deal with monthly visitors, grrr..

Aside from changes in our bodies, our behavior changes as well. Some of us go asshat wild - 'Yay for one-night stands, binge drinking and stuffing our noses with drugs!'

Scenario: Aside from studying Health & Life Sciences, I also work at a consulting bureau. An agent of the RIVM decides to offer me a place to complete my interns if I manage to find a solution to one of the problems he's been wrestling with: How do you get youngsters to take their frail bodies into account (in other words: How do you get them to stop YOLO'ing?)

Anthrax

This has GOT to be one of the scariest diseases around, shame my high school only mentioned it once.

There were/are several 'anthrax islands' around, with Gruinard Island being one of the best-known islands. Apparently, there are 0 inhabitants, as weaponized anthrax was being tested on this island on sheep. Within days, all animals died of respiratory distress and shock, showing anthrax's potential as a biowarfare weapon. They burned down the island to decontaminate it, but when they reintroduced sheep, anthrax quickly returned.
Sometime ago, they sprayed formaldehyde mixed with seawater on the island, and upon reintroducing a flock of sheep, no animals were infected with anthrax, making it a safe island again.

Bacterial/Viral/Fungal/Parasitic: Bacterial
Causative agent: Bacillus anthracis 
Incubation time: about 8 days
Antibiotics of choice: Ciprofloxacin
Toxins / Factors: Lethal factor (LF), Edema factor (EF), Protective antigen (PA) (AB)
Bioterrorism agent category: A
Vaccine available: Yes (Toxoid: contains inactive toxins)[1]

Myocardial Rupture

Myo·car·di·al
adj. 
Myo translates to muscle (Ancient Greek: Mus or Mys), while cardia/cardio translates to heart (Ancient Greek: Kardia)

A myocardial rupture is a laceration or the tearing of any part of the heart. It is a quite rare, and usually fatal complication of myocardial infarction (heart attacks).
It accounts for roughly 1/4th of all deaths caused (indirectly) by myocardial infarction.[1]

Dutch Vaccination Programme & HPV

Hey folks,
It's been a while.
Been studying anatomy and physiology for a while now. College really takes away all your time..
Either way, I'm working on a PBL assignment at the moment, and I figured I might as well put it online.

Although it only deals with the Human Papillomavirus(HPV) and the Dutch's way of dealing with immunization, it might just cover some information you might need for whatever assignment.

Roleplay situation: Aside from studying Health & Life Sciences, I also happen to work at a consulting bureau. I'm visiting some kid named Bram, whose parents don't have their children vaccinated for religious reasons. Their kid has a nasty cough, which sounds achingly similar to a dog's barking.
After I'm done visiting the family, I wonder whether my little sister should get a HPV shot or not..

Proof of vaccination

Last update: November 26th, 2012

Plague

Blackened skin. Swollen lymph nodes. Rats and other pests. Fleas. Ew.
You know what I'm talking about. The Plague.
It's caused more human deaths than any other infectious disease, save for malaria and tuberculosis.[1]

It's caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium.
It's primary host is the rat, and the intermediate hosts between rats and humans are fleas. (Guess that gives me another reason to lay down rat/mouse traps.)
Since it primarily infects rats, but sometimes infects humans as well, it is a zoonotic disease. (disease which primarily infects animals, although it can also cause disease in humans)
Infected rats generally die soon after infection, but the survivors develop a chronic condition in which the animal can keep transferring the disease to other organisms.[1]

Alright, my little pet hamster doesn't carry fleas,
but that isn't the case for every pet rodent..

Yersinia pestis can cause multiple forms of plague:
- Sylvatic plague
- Bubonic plague
- Septicemic plague
- Pneumonic plague

Broken Heart Syndrome

"Due to problems on the tracks, the train leaving at 8.43 AM to Amsterdam Schiphol will not depart."
Wait, what? ..But I have an exam on Immunology in an hour!
My heart skipped a beat in surprise, and after this, my BPM skyrocketed in response to the stress hormones released by my kidneys. For one moment, I thought the NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen / Dutch Railways) would choke the life out of my poor beating heart.

Heart Attack Level: NS.
One day, the NS will choke the life out of someone's heart.

Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli

Wooot, spare-time-post! No, seriously. My crazy timetable decided to give me 3.5hrs off between classes. Seriously? What the hell am I supposed to do? Oh wait. My teachers finally checked my writing assignment on EHEC. 8.5 out of 10 pts, hehe..

Well, let's get to the point.