Infectious Disease

Infectious Diseases in the news - What's Your Risk?

Before fretting over the possibility of catching an infectious disease consider how many cases have been reported and where they took place. 

How susceptible you are to an infectious disease depends on many factors, such as where you live, your age, your general health and your lifestyle.

In some parts of the world certain diseases are a constant threat, while in other parts of the world, these diseases pose little or not threat at all. Evaluate which infectious diseases pose a risk to you.  You're more likely to get sick from contaminated surfaces in your home - such as in the kitchen or bathroom - than to acquire a serious illness from a mosquito.

Infectious Diseases: How they spread, how to stop them!

Infectious diseases spread in many ways, but you can minimize your risk of infection. From your sniffling seatmate on the bus to the raw chicken on your cutting board, everyday life is full of potential infectious hazards. With germs so common and seemingly everywhere, how do we stop them? Know how germs spread can help you stop them in their tracks.

Infectious diseases spread through contact:
Direct Contact: The easiest way to catch most infectious diseases is by coming in contact with someone who has one. This "someone" can be a person, an animal, or for an unborn baby, its' mother.

• Person to person: The most common way for infectious disease to spread is
  through direct transfer of bacteria, viruses or other germs from one person to another. This can occur when an individual with the bacteria or virus touches, coughs on or kisses someone who isn't infected. These germs can also spread through the exchange of body fluids from sexual contact.
• Animal to person: Your household pet might seem harmless, but pets can carry germs. Being bitten or scratched by an infected animal can make you sick, and in extreme cases could even cause death. Handling animal waste can be hazardous, too. You can become infected by scooping your cat's litter box or by cleaning bat or mouse droppings in your house or garage.
• Mother to unborn child: A pregnant woman may pass germs that can cause infectious diseases on to her unborn baby. Germs can pass through the placenta, as in the case of the AIDS virus and the toxoplasmosis parasite. Or you can pass along germs during labour and delivery, as in the case for a mother infected with group B streptococcus.

Indirect Contact: Disease causing organisms can also be passed along by indirect contact. Many germs can linger on an inanimate object, such as a tabletop, doorknob or faucet handle.

Infectious diseases spread through the air:
When you cough or sneeze, you expel droplets into the air around you. Spread of infectious disease in this manner is called droplet spread or droplet transmission.

Infectious diseases spread through vectors and vehicles:

• Bites and stings: Some germs rely on insects - such as mosquitoes, fleas, lice or ticks - to move from host to host. These carriers are known as vectors. Mosquitoes can carry the malaria parasite or West Nile virus, and deer ticks may carry the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.
• Food contamination: Another way disease-causing germs can infect you is through food and water. Food is the vehicle that spreads the germs to many people through a single source and causes illness. For instance, contamination with Escherichia coli (E. coli) is common. E.coli is a bacterium present in certain foods - such as undercooked hamburger or unwashed fruits and vegetables.