Atopic eczema is the most common form of eczema and is identified by skin inflammation that causes the associated symptoms. Atopic is just a description for specific allergic tendencies some people may have. However, having atopic eczema is not in itself the same has having a simple allergic type of condition as people with this also have a larger risk of developing other types of atopic conditions like hay fever or asthma.

Atopic eczema has a few symptoms that are related to it. These include dry skin, red inflammation, itchiness where the skin is inflamed, blisters on the inflamed region, and sometimes infections may occur. The most commonly affected regions of the skin when it becomes inflamed are skin creases like those which are found in front of the wrists and elbows, behind the knees and around the neck area. This isn’t to say other areas of skin cannot become affected.

Atopic Eczema

Sufferers tend to find that inflamed areas have a tendency to flare up on occasions then seem to settle down. Obviously the duration and severity of the “attacks” varies in different people.
People with eczema usually suffer mild cases, where flare ups may cause just a couple of areas of inflammation and only occur occasionally, or sever cases where attacks can stretch for several weeks, covering large areas of the skin. It is normal for people with atopic eczema to be somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

Hepatitis A is an infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus. The well-respected World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that almost 1.5 million new cases of hepatitis A related illnesses occur each year worldwide, with a much higher number of people than this affected without showing any symptoms. The condition is more prevalent in the developing world where poverty and sanitation issues are rampant.

Hepatitis A is regarded as an acute infection as opposed to a chronic one, but in rare occurrences it can cause liver damage that is life threatening. The severity of symptoms in patients with the virus varies from individual to individual and whereas some may have no symptoms at all, others may develop symptoms to those similar of catching flu. As a rule, the older a person is, the more severe the infection, and therefore the symptoms, will be.

Some of the symptoms associated with hepatitis A include tiredness, weakness, fever, headache, nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, dehydration and diarrhea. After a week or so of these symptoms, jaundice will appear. This occurs because in hepatitis infections, the liver is unable to remove a substance known as bilirubin from the blood. The skin and whites of the eyes become a yellow color because of the buildup of this pigment.

Hepatitis can be avoided be taking the following precautions: high levels of personal hygiene, drinking safe tap water and getting vaccinated against the disease if a visit to a high risk country is to be taken.

Malaria is a disease that can be potentially fatal, and is caused by a parasite called plasmodium. It spreads via a bite from a female mosquito that has been infected. Once infected, an individual could suffer flu-like symptoms, fevers, diarrhea, fatigue or many other symptoms. If a person has any of these symptoms within a year of returning from an infected area (normally tropical or sub-tropical regions), then they should get tested immediately; if anything, just to rule out malaria.

As mentioned, malaria can have the tendency to be fatal, but if diagnosed and treated early enough, most individuals make a full recovery. The disease is usually treated by using anti-malarial medications, the type and length of any treatment depending on a variety of factors, including where the infection occurred, the type of malaria contracted, age of the patient, whether pregnant or not and the severity of the symptoms.

Five types of drug are usually used to treat the disease and depending on what type of malaria is present, the doctor may prescribe a certain one, or combination of these drugs. These five drugs are atovaquone plus proguanil, chloroquine, doxycycline, mefloquine and proguanil.

Mild cases of malaria can be treated at home once prescribed the medication, whereas more severe cases will require hospital treatment. Sometimes these drugs can be administered intravenously. All malaria treatments can make you feel tired and weak for several weeks.

Malaria