LOOK WHAT I BROUGHT BACK FROM RUSSIA!
Annie, Emily, Ceyda, Jacobi, Suzel
MOSCOW
Moscow, the capital of Russia. Full of a mix of rich European history and modern day attractions. Moscow has been in existence for more than 800 years and keeps its visitors busy year around.
For those who love to shop, the GUM is place for luxurious shopping as well as a beautiful architectural building. Here you can dine at traditional Russian restaurants and enjoy a drink overlooking the Red Square
If you are looking for an experience like no other, Museon Sculpture Park is the right place for you. The park features sculptures from the 18th-20th centuries by both Russian and Soviet artists.
If you are looking for local cuisine, Porosello is a local neighborhood pub. They do not just serve dinner but also breakfast and lunch! It is known for its atmosphere and friendly welcoming environment
ST. PETERSBURG
St. Petersburg is one of the country’s most beautiful cities in Russia. It will be an unforgettable vacation experience with touring historical attractions including the state hermitage museum and the winter palace as well as enjoying the fun nightlife that St. Petersburg has to offer.
- A top rated tour in St. Petersburg is the St.Petersburg Food and Party Evening Tour. The tour is a three hour local food and drink tour around the culture capital of Russia. Here you can discover the night life of St. Petersburg. Your first stop is of course coffee and donuts and it ends with a USSR cafe. Explore new squares around this beautiful city. This 5 star rating tour is one you won’t regret.
Restaurants
If you are looking for local cuisine, Porosello is a local neighborhood pub. They do not just serve dinner but also breakfast and lunch! It is known for its atmosphere and friendly welcoming environment
LAKE BAIKAL
Enjoy some R&R in Lake Baikal. Here you can go from freezing to a spa experience and relish in the hot springs in Khakasy. View a picturesque scenery of the Baikal thermal baths which is a replica of the Japanese Onsen.
Although it may be very cold, the warm water of the Lake Baikal is a delightful experience. Enjoy relaxing on some of the beaches nearby including: Sarayskiy Beach, Olkhon Island, Sandy Bay, and Small Sea.
You can’t go to Baikal and not witness the nerpa seals. These animals are always swimming in the waters. They are very intelligent animals. If you are an animal lover, this is a sight to see!
GENERAL INFORMATION
LOCATION
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Russia borders Asian and European countries and the Pacific and Arctic oceans.
GEOGRAPHY
Russia is the largest country in the world. It contains Europe´s longest river (Volga) and largest lake (Ladoga). It also contains the world´s deepest lake (Baikal) and has the world´s lowest temperature outside of North and South poles. Russia includes 11 different time zones and has a huge range of environments and landforms from deserts to forests to tundras.
LANGUAGES
Russian is the national official language of Russia, but there are 35 different official languages in different regions.
ECONOMY
The GNP, or Gross National Income, of Russia is 3.655 trillion PPP dollars (as of 2017). The average monthly income is 32,122 rubles ($437) and over ⅕ of the population (about 22%) lives below the poverty line.
TUBERCULOSIS (TB)
A Bacterial Disease
Causative Agent: Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
SYMPTOMS
Bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer
- Weight loss
Loss of appetite
Coughing up blood or mucus
Weakness or fatigue
Fever
Night sweats
TREATMENT
Latent TB can be treated with only one or two types of drugs, but actuve TB patients need to take several different drugs, especially if the TB is drug-resistant The most common medications used to treat tuberculosis include:
Isoniazid
Rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane)
Ethambutol (Myambutol)
Pyrazinamide
PREVENTION
Avoid close contact or prolonged time with TB patients in crowded, enclosed environments.
If you anticipate prolonged exposure to people with TB in a foreign country, have a TB skin test or a TB blood test before leaving the U.S. If the test comes back negative, repeat the test 8 to 10 weeks after returning to the U.S.
The pasteurization of milk helps prevent bovine TB.
The BCG vaccine makes a small contrivution to TB prevention.
LIFECYCLE
Five Stages:
Bacteria of tuberculosis is inhaled through the air. This stage is called onset. During onset, the bacteria is sometimes able to reproduce and initiate the infection. TB starts when the mycobacteria is inhaled and reaches alveolar macrophages.
During the seecond stage, symbiosis, the bacteria reproduce if they are not killed.
The third stage, initial caseous necrosis, lasts for 14 to 21 days In this stage, TB begins to develop due to the decreasing rate of binary fission. The bacteria will kill the non-activated macrophages around it and run out of cells to divide in. This bacterium then produces anoxic conditions and pH levels decrease.
The fourth stage, the interplay of tissue-damaging and macrophage activating immune response, initiates after 21 days. Mycobacterium TB uses inactive macrophages, surrounding the tubercle, to reproduce which causes the tubercle to grow. The tubercle then spreads to the lungs. If spread into the bloodstream, the patient can develop tuberculosis outside of the lungs.
Stage five is liquefaction and cavity formation. Few patients survive to this stage. The tubercles will liquify at some point, causing the disease to spread more quickly.
TICK-BORNE ENCEPHALITIS (TBE)
A Viral Disease
Causative Agent: Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV)
SYMPTOMS
- Headache
- Fever
- Aching in muscles and joints
- Fatigue/weakness
- Confusion
- Agitation
- Hallucinations
- Seizures
- Loss of feeling in the face
- Speech or hearing loss
- Neurological illness
TREATMENT
There is no treatment for TBE, but anti-inflammatory drugs, such as corticosteroids, can help to relieve symptoms. Hospitalization is usually necessary for TBE patients and intubation and ventilator support may be necessary as well.
PREVENTION
TBE can be prevented buy practicing good hygiene, not sharing utensils, and getting vaccinations. You can minimize exposure to ticks by dressing to protect skin and using insecticides.
LIFECYCLE
Tick-Borne Encephalitis is hosted by domesticated and wild mammals such as dogs, rodents, and deer. It is transmitted by the bite of an infected tick or by the consumption of infected unpasteurised dairy products. The virus cannot be directly transmitted between humans unless from mother to fetus.
DIROFILARIASIS
A Parasitic Disease
Causative Agent: Dirofilaria worm
SYMPTOMS
Nodules under skin or lung granulomas (small nodules formed by an inflammatory reaction) which may be asymptomatic
Coughing (including coughing blood)
Chest pain
Fever
Wheezing
Chills
Pleural effusion (excess fluid between the tissues that line the lungs and the chest cavity)
Most people with pulmonary dirofilariasis have no symptoms
TREATMENT
Surgical removal of lung granulomas and skin nodules
No treatment with medicine is necessary
PREVENTION
Avoiding mosquito bites in areas where mosquitoes may be infected with Dirofilaria larvae
Risk of such mosquito bites can be reduced by:
Leaving as little skin exposed as possible
Using insect repellent when exposed to mosquitoes
-by sleeping under an insecticide-treated bednet in areas where Dirofilaria-infected mosquitoes bite at night and have access to sleeping areas.
LIFECYCLE
Seven Stages:
During a blood meal, an infected mosquito (Aedes, Culex, Anopheles, Mansonia) introduces third-stage filarial larvae of Dirofilaria immitis into a host´s skin, where they penetrate into the bite wound.
In the host, the L3 larvae undergo two more molts into L4 and adults. Adults reside in pulmonary arteries and are sometimes found in the right ventricle of the heart.
Adult females are usually 230-310 mm long by 350 µm wide and males are usually 120-190 mm long by 300 µm wide. Adults can live for 5 – 10 years. In the heart, the female worms are capable of producing microfilariae over their lifespan. The microfilariae are found in peripheral blood.
A mosquito ingests the microfilariae during a blood meal.
After ingestion, the microfilariae migrate from the mosquito’s midgut through the hemocoel to the Malpighian tubules in the abdomen and then into third-stage infective larvae.
The third-stage infective larvae migrate to the mosquito’s proboscis and can infect another definitive host when it takes a blood meal.
In humans, D. immitis larvae tend to follow the pathway, ending up in the lungs, where they often lodge in small-caliber vessels, causing infarcts and typical “coin lesions” visible on radiographs.
MUCOSAL CANDIDIASIS
A Fungal Disease
Causative Agent: Mucosal Candidiasis
SYMPTOMS
White patches in the mouth
Redness or soreness
Cotton mouth
Loss of taste
Pain while eating or swallowing
Cracking and redness at the corners of the mouth
TREATMENT
Mild cases can usually be treated by applying antifungal medicine to the affected area (normally the mouth or genital area) for 7-14 days. More severe cases can usually be treated with Fluconazole, which is the most common medicine used to treat MC.
PREVENTION
MC can be prevented by maintaining good health and by rinsing your mouth after brushing your teeth.
LIFECYCLE
MC is normally found in small amounts in the mouth and intestines, but is not a big problem until it grows out of control
Works Cited
"Average Monthly Income in Russia USD 291, Average Wage USD 437 (Rosstat Report)." Elena's Models, blogs.elenasmodels.com/en/average-monthly-income-russia-wages-rosstat/.
"Candida Infections of the Mouth, Throat, and Esophagus." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 Aug. 2017, www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/candidiasis/thrush/index.html.
"Dirofilariasis." MalaCards, 12 Feb. 2019, www.malacards.org/card/dirofilariasis.
"Dirofilariasis FAQs." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8 Feb. 2012, www.cdc.gov/parasites/dirofilariasis/faqs.html.
"Encephalitis- Diagnosis and Treatment." Mayo Clinic, 13 June 2017, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/encephalitis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20356142.
"Factsheet about Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE)." European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, 2010, ecdc.europa.eu/en/tick-borne-encephalitis/facts/factsheet.
"Life Cycle of D. Immitis." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8 Feb. 2012, www.cdc.gov/parasites/dirofilariasis/biology_d_immitis.html.
"Life Cycle of Organism." Study of Tuberculosis, sites.google.com/site/mycobacteriumtbstudy/home/life-cycle-of-organism.
"One-Fifth of Russians Live in Poverty, 36 Percent in 'Risk Zone,' Study Finds." Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 21 Nov. 2018, www.rferl.org/a/study-22-percent-of-russians-live-in-poverty-36-percent-in-risk-zone-/29613059.html.
"Russia." Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Mar. 2019, www.britannica.com/place/Russia.
"TB Prevention." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Mar. 2016, www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/basics/tbprevention.htm.
"TB Prevention - Precautions, Vaccine, Masks." TBFacts, www.tbfacts.org/tb-prevention/.
"Things to Do in Moscow." Like a Local, www.likealocalguide.com/moscow/things-to-do.
"Tuberculosis- Diagnosis and Treatment." Mayo Clinic, 30 Jan. 2019, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tuberculosis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20351256.
"Tuberculosis in Russia. Its History and Its Status Today." ATS Journals, 5 Dec. 2014, www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.201305-0926OE.
"Tuberculosis in the United States." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Oct. 2018, www.cdc.gov/tb/statistics/surv/surv2017/default.htm#.
"Tuberculosis- Symptoms and Causes." Mayo Clinic, 30 Jan. 2019, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tuberculosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351250.
"Tuberculosis (TB)- Causes." NHS, 15 Nov. 2016, www.nhs.uk/conditions/tuberculosis-tb/causes/.
Photo Credits (in order of appearance of photos)
Blutskirche "St. Petersburg" by: Fabian Heusser
Moscow Behind the Hill by: Emre Ergin
The 'Kunstkamera' - St Petersburg by: Polyrus
Lake Baikal 19 by: Ben Beiske
St. Petersburg - Moscow, Russia by: Larry Koester
Volga River 95 by: Alexxx Malex
Assumption Cathedra, Yaroslavl, Russia by: Andrey
New Moscow by: M.M Czarnecki
Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacteria by: NIAID
Encephalitis tick by: hoan dinh
Dirofilariasis Case 234 by: Yale Rosen
mostlytongue-cropped.jpg by: Alex Avriette