A disease is any change that impairs the normal functioning of an organism.
Infectious or Noninfectious?
An infectious disease is caused by another organism whether bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic or rickettsia. Infectious diseases are transmitted through a direct transfer of bacteria, viruses or other germs from one person to another. This can happen when someone who has the bacterium or virus touches, kisses, coughs/sneezes on someone who is not infected. Noninfectious disease cannot be passed from one being to another. Non-infectious diseases are generic or life style related. Things such as Down syndrome and skin cancer are non-infectious diseases.
Bacteria and Pathogens
A Pathogen is the cause of a disease. Examples of Pathogens
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The known cause of this disease is bacterial though there are 5 main forms of Meningococcal some of which are both viral and bacterial. Bacteria and Viruses are very different. Bacteria can survive without a host while a virus needs a cell to survive. Most viruses cause diseases and target specific cells or bacteria. Unlike a virus only 1% of Bacteria actually cause diseases.
During 2007 in India there was a large outbreak of meningococcal meningitis with 128 infected.
There is an estimated 1.2 million cases of Meningococcal and 135 000 deaths world wide every year.
Meningococcal can develop within a few hours or between 1-2 days. It affects anyone no matter what their age. The disease can last until it destroys the immune system or areas such as the brain and spinal cord depending on which disease it is. Meningococcal meningitis can kill within hours of contracting the disease.
Vaccines for Meningococcal B&C are given to people of all agers though C is mainly given to babies of 12 months and young children. Vaccines for A, Y and W135 are given to people who travel overseas. Heath Authorities say to look out for signs of the disease and if infected to seek medical help imminently. Contact with
Tuberculosis or TB is an airborn infection caused by inhaled droplets that contain mycobacterium tuberculosis. When infected, the body will initiate a cell-mediated hypersensitivity response which leads to formation of lesion or cavity and positive reaction to tuberculin skin test (Kaufman, 2011). People who have been infected with mycobacteria will have a positive skin test, but only ones who have active TB will show signs and symtoms. Basic signs and symptoms include low grade fever, cough with hemoptysis, and tachypnea. They may also show pleuristic chest pain, dyspnea, progressive weight loss, fatigue and malaise (Porth, 2011).
Even this difference is not absolute either type can reside in either or both parts of the body and infect oral and/or genital areas. Unfortunately, many people aren't aware of this, which contributes both to the spread of type 1 and to the misperception that the two types are fundamentally different.
A person who has been infected by the disease may experience signs of fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, and a red rash that appears blotchy. Generally the signs become present between ten and twenty-one days after the person has been exposed to and infected by the virus (Silverstein et al., 1998). This is what is known as the incubation period (Plum, J., 2001). The rash is most likely to begin on the chest, back, or the scalp, but will soon spread to the rest of the body. After a couple days of having physical evidence of the infection, the rash will s...
“Meningococcal Disease.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 12 Oct. 2005. Department of Health and Human Services. 27 July 2006 .
A disease is transmitted in one way or the other. Lyme disease is transmitted through a vector. The vector of the disease is an infected deer tick. The deer tick has to bite a person to spread the disease. When a deer tick bites a person (sucks blood), the Borrelia burgdoferi bacteria is transmitted into the persons body.
No matter what, where, or who you are, water is a necessary component to keeping any organism alive. Although water is essential for life, in many places, clean drinking water is hard to find. There are many consequences to drinking contaminated water. Every year, three to five million people are attacked by water-borne diseases and over 100,000 of them die. One fatal disease that can kill within hours is cholera.
Meningitis, it’s an infection in the cerebral spinal fluid and inflammation of the meninges; the three outer layers of the brain. To be more specific, those three layers are called the Dura mater, Arachnoid mater, and the Pia mater. There are three main types of meningitis that will be discussed throughout this paper; viral, bacterial, and fungal. Each form is very similar but they all vary in terms of causative organisms, treatment and severity. Although meningitis is not very common, it can become very severe and always needs to be treated immediately.
Public health may be defined as “a social and political concept aimed at the improving the quality of life among the whole population through health promotion, disease prevention and other forms of health intervention”.(1) The purpose of public health practice is to improve the health of society rather than individuals and reduce health disparities between individuals, groups, and communities through organized effort of the communities, individuals and organizations. As Marmot points out: “creating a fairer society is fundamental to improving the health of the population and ensuring a fairer distribution of good health”.(2) Besides this, the public health field is expanding to tackling new and contemporary risks: obesity, sexually transmitted
Infectious diseases are the disorders caused by organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasite who live both inside and outside our bodies and are normally helpful but can cause infectious diseases to the human (body) system under certain conditions. And for a disease to be infectious, there is what is called ‘’chain of infection’’ that takes place before. And this can be seen in the below diagram:
As you exit the bus, another passenger next to you starts to cough, and then you hold the handrail as you exit the bus. Since you’re late getting home, you take a shortcut through a field to get home quicker. These three simple acts just exposed you to bacteria, viruses, and insects that could cause illness or even death. Infectious diseases, also known as communicable disease, are spread by germs. Germs are living things that are found in the air, in the soil, and in water. You can be exposed to germs in many ways, including touching, eating, drinking or breathing something that contains a germ. Animal and insect bites can also spread germs.1
After a few days after developing a rash, it may change into small lumps all over the body. These symptoms may come just after a week of being infected. "The first symptoms may appear 12 to 14 days after you're infected." A rash will appear in the mouth and throat in the first few days, it will then spread to the face and arms and finally, the legs. The rashes will grow bigger as days go by, eventually transforming into large bumps filled with puss and fluid. Then these bumps are replaced with blisters, which will drop off and that indicates that the person has become infected and can possibly spread the disease.
The first recorded major outbreak of meningitis occurred in 1805, even though many scientists suggest that Hippocrates was the first to discover the existence of meningitis and there is evidence that suggests that the disease was also studied by pre-Renaissance physicians. Sir Rober Whytt is attributed with the description of tuberculosis meningitis in a report in 1768. Meningitis outbreaks were subsequently described in Europe, America and Africa by 1840. The epidemic became very common in Africa, starting with a major epidemic in Nigeria and Ghana in 1905. Today, Sub-Saharan Africa is known as the meningitis belt because it has been heavily plagued by large epidemics of the disease throughout the century.
Infectious diseases also called as communicable diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms (such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi), can be spread directly or indirectly from one person to another.
Infection control, a term that describes procedures taken to reduce the spread of infection. The dental office is a place where many people are treated including patients with infectious disease such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and many other highly contagious diseases. It is imperative that in any dental office setting the prevention of the spreading microorganisms from patient to patient, patient to staff, or staff to patient is done in high precaution. Infection control has two main objectives; to protect the patients from harmful pathogens as well as dental team members. Infections can cause or add pain, deteriorate a persons health, and in worst cases even result in death. In order to understand the infection control in a dental facility, you must understand the standard precautions required by organizations that regulate or recommend infection control, the kinds of preventive measures taken, as well as when these measures should be taken.
There are numerous public health problems that can be addressed in my Southside of Chicago community. Among the several public health problems facing my Southside of Chicago community there are two that are more urgent. Health education or one might say lack thereof is a problem that needs to be addressed. My community is plagued with many of the residents suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, and the killer virus known as HIV. In most cases these conditions can be prevented with healthier lifestyles and access to nutritious organic foods. In addition, environmental health is another urgent problem my community is facing. Access to clean, safe water and air is supposed to be a fundamental human right aimed at a healthy environment. Yet, my community consists a waste contaminated beach, numerous deteriorated building that are still occupied, and a countless number of restaurant and stores supplying our residents with services that are endangering their health.