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Infectious Diseases
By peace | November 25, 2006
An infection occurs when harmful organisms, known as pathogens, invade the body. These organisms include viruses, bacteria, protozoa, rickettsiae, fungi and worms. All can be 
passed from one person to another by various routes. Droplets containing organisms expelled during coughing and sneezing may be breathed in. Organisms are spread by direct contact during kissing or sexual intercourse.
Animals may be intermediate hosts for the organisms. For example, mosquitoes convey the malaria protozoa plasmodium, and parrots may transmit the bacteria which cause psittacosis. Harmful organisms lie in contaminated food an drink or the soil, and may enter the body through the mouth or an open wound. Organisms may also be passed from an infected mother to her baby during pregnancy or birth.
Incubation Period
Once harmful organisms enter the body they begin to reproduce, but it takes some time to become numerous enought to cause symptoms. The time that elapses between the organism entering the body and the appearance of symptoms is known as the incubation period, and it may last from a few hours in the case of cholera, to five months in certain forms of hepatitis.
When a person is attacked by an infectious disease his body develops antibodies to combat the infection. These antibodies remain after the infection has been cured, conferring the natural immunity against the same organism.
Artificial immunity to infectious diseases can be given by stimulating the body to produce antibodies. Vaccines consist of a substance which causes the immune system to react to a specific disease without producing the disease itself.
Vaccines do not exist for all infections, but some of the most severes ones can be controlled in this way.
High-Risks Groups
- People living in or travelling in countries where infectious diseases are widespread.
- Babies under three months
- The family of someone suffering from an infectious disease
- Adults who catch childhood diseases, such as chickenpox, may get them more severely
- Pregnant mothers should not be in contact with German measles
- The old and the ill can lose their immunity to many infections
Main Symptoms of Infectious Disease
- Diarrhoea
- Fever
- Headache
- Rash
Treatment
The success of medical treatment for infectious diseases depends on the organism responsible. Antibiotics, such as penicillin, eliminate bacteria. Bacterial infections include diphtheria, gonorrhoea, forms of pneumonia, scarlet fever, whooping cough, syphilis, tuberculosis and typhoid.
Infections caused by protozoa(malaria, for example) and fungi(athlete’s foot and thrush, for example) are also usually treatable with drugs. However, few drug, including antibiotics, seem to affect viral hepatitis, influenza, measles, mumps, col cores, rabies and poliomyelitis.
Prevention of Infectious Diseases
- Make sure your child has all the vaccinations your doctor recommends
- Before you go abroad check whether there are any widespread infectious diseases there and consult your doctor
- Avoid unsterilised water, ice-creams and uncooked foods in countries where infectious disease is widespread
Topics: All Posts, Children, Diseases, Man's health, Woman's Health | No Comments »
