Infectious Diseases
Infectious Diseases - Definitions
• – a pathological condition of body parts or tissues characterized by
an identifiable group of signs and symptoms.
• – disease caused by an infectious agent such as a bacterium, virus,
protozoan, or fungus that can be passed on to others.
• – occurs when an infectious agent enters the body and begins to
reproduce; may or may not lead to disease.
• – an infectious agent that causes disease.
• – an organism infected by another organism.
• – the relative ability of an agent to cause rapid and severe disease
in a host.
Infectious Diseases as a Cause of Death
• Infectious diseases are responsible for a quarter to a third of all
deaths worldwide.
• Infectious diseases account for more than half of all deaths in children
under the age of 5.
• Of the top ten causes of death compiled by the World Health
Organization, five are due to infectious diseases.
• The top single agent killers are HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The other top killers are lower respiratory infections and diarrheal
diseases, which are caused by a variety of agents.
Infectious Diseases Throughout History
• Infectious agents have probably always caused disease in humans.
• Smallpox has been described in ancient Egyptian and Chinese writings
and may have been responsible for more deaths than all other
infectious diseases combined.
• There is evidence that malaria and poliomyelitis have existed since
ancient times.
• In the 14th Century, the bubonic plague, or Black Death, killed about
20 million people in Europe alone.
• In the 20th Century, the 1918 influenza may have killed up to 50
million people worldwide
• Close to 20 million people have died of AIDS to date.
Koch’s Postulates
• Koch developed four criteria to demonstrate that a
specific disease is caused by a particular agent.
• The specific agent must be associated with every case of
the disease.
1. The agent must be isolated from a diseased host and grown in
culture.
2. When the culture-grown agent is introduced into a healthy
susceptible host, the agent must cause the same disease.
3. The same agent must again be isolated from the infected
experimental host.
Infectious Disease Agents
• Most infectious agents that cause disease are
microscopic in size and thus, are called
microbes or microorganisms.
• Different groups of agents that cause disease
are:
• Bacteria
• Viruses
• Protozoa (Protists)
• Fungi
• Helminths (Animals)
Courtesy of CDC
Transmission of Infectious Diseases
• Agents that cause infectious diseases
can be transmitted in many ways.
• Through the air Courtesy of VOA
• Through contaminated food or water Chinese students
wearing masks during a
• Through body fluids SARS outbreak
• By direct contact with contaminated
objects
• By animal vectors such as insects,
birds, bats, etc.
Courtesy of CDC
Aedes aegypti mosquito
Known to transmit
Dengue fever
Phases of Infectious Disease
• – time between infection and the appearance of signs and symptoms.
• – mild, nonspecific symptoms that signal onset of some diseases.
• – a person experiences typical signs and symptoms of disease.
• - subsidence of symptoms.
• – symptoms have disappeared, tissues heal, and the body regains
strength.
Classification of Infectious Disease
• – develops and runs its course quickly.
• – develops more slowly and is usually less severe, but may persist
for a long, indefinite period of time
• – characterized by periods of no symptoms between outbreaks of
illness.
• – confined to a specific area of the body.
• – a generalized illness that infects most of the body with
pathogens distributed widely in tissues.
• – initial infection in a previously healthy person.
• – infection that occurs in a person weakened by a primary
infection.
How Infectious Agents Cause Disease
• Production of poisons, such as
toxins and enzymes, that
destroy cells and tissues.
• Direct invasion and destruction Courtesy of CDC
of host cells. Human Immunodeficiency
Virus. HIV-1 virions can
• Triggering responses from the be seen on surface of
lymphocytes.
host’s immune system leading
to disease signs and symptoms.
Reducing the Spread of Infectious
Diseases
• Vaccines
• Antimicrobial drugs
• Good personal hygiene and sanitation
• Protection against mosquitoes
• Quarantine
