Florin Paul

Dear fellow,

Thanks for your question. Having only the very little details about your symptoms and your medical condition, it is very difficult to answer to your question. However, speculating a bit around the subject your "tiredness" may be a result of the low oxygenation due to the sinusitis you are complaining about. It is very important what medication are taking for it, other additional medical problem you may have and so on. If you only presume you do have a sinusitis, my advise to you is to visit an ENT specialist or a general practitioner that will guide you for proper and adequate investigations and treatment.

Stay safe,

Dr. Florin PAUL  

Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) stays as a silent and present threat in Africa. There are "endemic areas" (where there is the natural habitat of the virus) like Congo, but the pathogen/infection and the disease can be spread/exported and or imported by any person who have a direct contact with a EVD infected and/or sick person. At the international level there is a huge effort to develop a vaccine and to implement the basics and required protection measures to stop/avoid/control the spread of fis very deadly disease. Shortly Ebola is still a real and present threat in some areas of Africa. You can keep you updated by accessing CDC website.

Good luck and stay safe,

Dr. Florin PAUL

Thanks for the question. You are very right in asking the difference between "PANDEMIC" and "EPIDEMIC." In fact, I will add another epidemiological term respectively "ENDEMIC."
ENDEMIC means that an infectious and usually communicable/transmissible disease has as natural area/territory an incidence and prevalence that shows that the diseases is present in that territory/area. For example, MALARIA is endemic in countries from Africa, like Kenya, Angola, Nigeria, and so on. Usually, the incidence and prevalence have more or less constant values over the time. PANDEMIC means that an infectious and communicable disease is spread over the natural area of the disease. For example, INFLUENZA which can present epidemics al over the Earth (in the same time in North America, Europa, Middle east, South America). EPIDEMIC means that an infectious and communicable disease display in a territory/area an unusual prevalence/incidence of the disease for a short period of time. INCIDENCE definition: refers to the number of individuals who develop a specific disease or experience a specific health-related event during a particular time period (such as a month or year). PREVALENCE definition: refers to the total number of individuals in a population who have a disease or health condition at a specific period of time, usually expressed as a percentage of the population.

I do hope my answer satisfies you.
Stay safe

Thanks for the question. Zika Virus Disease (ZVD) is usually transmitted by mosquito bite (Aedes spp) and the incubation is about 3 to 12 days after the bite. There are also other ways of transmission like blood transfusion, sexual, breastfeeding, organ and tissue transplantation Simptomatology of Zika may mimic a large range of viral infections. However the most common symptoms are: fever, maculo-papular rash, conjunctivitis (pinkeye), joint pain, retro-orbital pain, headache, and muscle pain. Symptoms last 4 to 7 days. Most infections are mild. Severe infection requiring hospitalization is uncommon. Rarely, Zika virus infection has caused encephalopathy in adults. Death due to Zika virus infection is rare.The infection may have a very strong impact in population, especially to pregnant women therefore any suspicion  should be properly addressed to a clinic. Confirmation of the diseases is serologic and immunologic. If there is any suspicion your husband is infected with Zika virus, my strong advice is to visit as soon as possible your physician.

Good luck,

Zika Virus Disease is still a threat. However, taking all available measures to avoid mosquito's bites will protect you against the Zika virus disease. There is also the risk of sexual transmission of Zika virus.You can read all the methods of protection in CDC website: Zika Virus - Prevention and Transmission

Good luck,

Florin PAUL, MD, PhD, MPH

Your concern is very valid as too often and particularly in the media there are so many false statements regarding diseases, public health, prevention and treatment.At this very particular moment there is only one disease that was ERADICATED, and this is SMALLPOX. Smallpox was a viral disease with very high mortality that was eradicated in 70' after a huge and extremely well coordinated vaccination program all over the world. SMALLPOX was declared ERADICATED after in entire world was not reported any NEW CASE in about 3 years. The last known natural case was in Somalia in 1977. The disease was declared eradicated in 1980. Since then no human smallpox was reported/diagnosed in the entire world.In my humble opinion  there is too much advertising for vaccines and immunization of the population having the goal of eradication of infectious/contagious/transmissible diseases like POLIO, MEASLES, YELLOW FEVER and so on. So far, the goal of eradication failed and most probably never will be reached, at least with the current policies and vaccines. I do hope my answer is clear enough. The topic is extremely vast and I may need to publish a book for touching all the aspects of the eradication process  for a disease.

Good luck,

Florin PAUL, MD, PhD, MPH