Perspective - (2021) Volume 9, Issue 9
Communicable diseases are also known as transmissible diseases or infectious diseases. These diseases spread from sick person to another healthy person. These diseases are caused by germs and can also spread through air, infected food, through water, direct contact, insect bites.
The diseases spread by microbes are Bacteria, protozoa, fungus, virus.
• Bacteria: These are the first life forms to appear on earth. They are microscopic and single celled organisms. Bacteria cause’s diseases like Plague, Typhoid, Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Meningitis, etc. Bacteria have number of shapes ranging from spheres, rods, spirals etc.
• Protozoa: These are microscopic organisms that consist of single cell. They are parasitic because they live on or inside of other organisms and use the organism’s nutrients to survive. It causes diseases like malaria, amebic dysentery. Malaria is caused by protozoan that is carried by female Anopheles mosquito.
• Viruses: These are the smallest of all the microbes which contain genetic material. They do not have any complex structure like other microbes. So to survive they must enter the cells of other living organisms. Viruses causes diseases like common cold, polio, chicken pox, measles and COVID-19.These viruses can float through air, can survive in air, water and even on surface of the skin.
• Fungus: These are the type of organisms that includes yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. There are millions source of different fungi, but only around 300 cause harmful diseases. These infections can occur anywhere in the body, but they commonly affect the skin and mucus membranes. Some of the fungal infections are Ringworm, Athlete’s foot, Asthma, Scabies, etc.
• Direct contact: If a healthy person has a direct contact with unhealthy person like Shaking hands, Hugging etc. then healthy person also gets affected with the disease.
• Indirect contact: It spreads when a healthy person uses clothes, articles etc. of an infected person
• Through air: Germs that causes diseases like chicken pox, whooping cough etc. can spread through air due to droplets of while sneezing and coughing.
• Through mosquitoes and insects: Plague, dengue, yellow fever are caused by blood sucking organisms like mosquitoes, bugs and insects.
• Through infected food and water: Disease like cholera, Typhoid, Diarrhea, and Jaundice etc. can spread by infected food and by drinking polluted water. Flies and Cockroach carry germs causing diseases.
Most of the communicable diseases cause mild symptoms that can be cured without treatment while others may cause serious life threatening complications. Treatment depends upon the type of infection that a person infected with. Vaccines helps to prevent the specific viral infections, Bacterial infections can be cured by using antibiotics as prescribed by doctor, prescription antifungal medications helps to cure fungal infections.
We can reduce the risk of contracting or transmitting disease causing organisms by following the below preventive measures as we know that prevention is better than cure.
• Washing hands regularly
• Disinfecting surfaces at home mainly doorknobs and food areas we live
• Maintaining good hygiene when preparing and handling food
• Avoid eating spoiled food
• Avoid touching wild animals
• Taking antimalarial medications while traveling to the places where there is a malaria risk.
• Drinking boiling water which kills germs causing diseases
Citation: Hagander L (2021) An Overview of Communicable Diseases. Gen Med (Los Angeles). 9: 362.
Received: 08-Sep-2021 Published: 29-Oct-2021, DOI: 10.35248/2327-5146.21.9.362
Copyright: © 2021 Hagander L. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
