Contents:
- Medical Video: Top 10 Movie Outbreaks
- Isolation and quarantine are two different actions
- What is quarantine?
- Why do you need to be quarantined?
- What happens when we are quarantined?
Medical Video: Top 10 Movie Outbreaks
Remember in 2014 and 2015, did the Ebola outbreak spread in various parts of the world? In its report, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that this infectious disease claimed 11,315 fatalities in six countries. At that time, countries with the Ebola case imposed quarantine. However, do you know what quarantine is and what is the purpose of quarantine? Remember, isolation and quarantine are two different things. Now, to find out about the quarantine and the differences with isolation, see the following explanation.
Isolation and quarantine are two different actions
If someone has contact with a very contagious disease that is dangerous, then that person will be isolated and quarantined to prevent the spread of this disease to others.
Isolation means separating people with infectious diseases from healthy and uncontaminated people. Meanwhile, quarantine is an act of separating and limiting people who have had contact with infectious diseases (not necessarily affected by the disease) to find out whether they will get the disease or not.
Pay attention to the following picture so that the difference is clearer. A child who has been diagnosed positively with diphtheria will be isolated or kept away from children and other healthy people. This is so that other people do not contract diphtheria from the child.
Whereas if a child has a sibling at home who has been diagnosed positively with diphtheria, while the child himself has not been diagnosed, this child will be quarantined. During quarantine, the condition of this child will continue to be monitored to see the development of symptoms or not.
This child needs to be separated from a healthy person even though he or she has not been diagnosed because he is very at risk of contracting diphtheria from his sister, so that he is likely already infected with bacteria himself. If this child is not quarantined just because the symptoms have not been seen, it is feared that diphtheria can spread to other people around this child.
What is quarantine?
Someone who has contact with an infectious disease is likely to be infected, although it may not. However, to prevent the spread of this disease, the person may need to stay at home or in another location (such as a quarantine hall, hospital or clinic). Usually when quarantined, you are not allowed to go to school, go to work and study, or travel to public places.
Even in serious cases, for example in the case of Ebola outbreaks in various countries in West Africa in 2014, food supplies and daily needs of people who are being quarantined will be sent directly to their homes by officers so they do not need to go out to buy food or other necessities.
During quarantine, your health condition will continue to be monitored by health workers. You will be asked to undergo a series of medical examinations such as blood tests or other tests that can support the diagnosis. You, your family, and the closest people will also be given education about the symptoms of the disease that need to be watched out and reported.
Why do you need to be quarantined?
A person can be infected with a dangerous disease due to exposure to bacteria or viruses when interacting with infected humans or animals. This disease that can spread is called infectious disease.
Infectious diseases have claimed thousands of lives in the past, such as the black plague (black death) in London, England caused by bacteria yersinia pestis. Even just a few years ago the Ebola outbreak attacked several countries and killed more than ten thousand people.
When we try to prevent infection and its spread, it is important to understand this disease and determine what can be done to protect people from the spread of dangerous infectious diseases. Well, quarantine is applied when the authorities (such as the local Health Office) see and evaluate the risk of transmission of dangerous diseases.
What happens when we are quarantined?
The person quarantined will be asked to stay in a certain place or in his own house to prevent the spread of the disease and at the same time to monitor whether the disease will develop in that person. During quarantine, you may carry out activities normally carried out indoors.
You will also be given instructions on what to do to monitor the disease or to prevent transmission of the disease to other people such as family members. He will be asked to stay in the room until the risk of transmission is deemed to have declined or the risk of his disease developing has decreased.
If after monitoring you are diagnosed with the disease, you will be transferred to the isolation room. In this isolation room you will continue to be treated and monitored for the progress of the disease. Usually the isolated person is placed in a special room for just one person. Health care workers will use special clothes to prevent transmission or contact.
Quarantine does not mean stopping the spread of whole diseases. Research reveals that in some cases quarantine is effective to inhibit the spread of disease only when accompanied by immunization programs with vaccines.
