INFECTIVE CAUSES (I.E. : LIVING ORGANISMS)

Table of contents :

  • classification
  • transmission
  • contagion
    		•
  • host-parasite interactions
  • dynamic interactions between pathogens
  • epidemiology of infectious diseases
  • laboratory examinations
  • web resources
  • associations
  • journals
  • bibliography
    		•

    germ theory : the doctrine that infectious diseases are of microbic origin.

    Classification

    An estimated 1,415 microbes are infectious for humans. Of these, 868 (61%), are considered to be zoonotic; overall, zoonotic pathogens are twice as likely to be associated with emerging diseases (Taylor LH, Latham SM, Woolhouse ME. Risk factors for human disease emergence. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Bio Sci. 2001;356:983–9).
    Total cases of death caused by infectious diseases in 2000 : 17 million (30% of all deaths) infectious disease : a disease caused by a pathogenic microorganism; the etiologic agent may be a bacterium, virus, fungus, or animal parasite, and may be transmitted from another host or arise from the host's own indigenous microflora notifiable or reportable disease : one required to be reported to federal, state, or local health officials when diagnosed, because of infectiousness, severity, or frequency of occurrence

    Parasitism

    Transmission may be ...

    vection : the carrying of disease germs from an infected person to a well person. It is The incidence of diarrheal disease among cruise ship passengers declined from 29.2 cases per 100,000 passenger days in 1990 to 16.3 per 100,000 passenger days in 2000. In 2002, the Vessel Sanitation Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 29 outbreaks (3% or more passengers ill) of acute gastroenteritis on cruise ships, an increase from 3  in 2001. During 2001-2004, the background and outbreak-associated incidence rates of passengers with acute gastroenteritis per cruise were 25.6 and 85, respectively. Acute gastroenteritis outbreaks per 1000 cruises increased overall from 0.65 in 2001 to 5.46 in 2004; outbreaks increased from 2 in 2001 to a median of 15 per year in 2002–2004. Median ship inspection scores remained relatively constant during the study period (median 95 on a 100-point scale), and were not significantly associated with either gastroenteritis incidence rates. Despite good performance on environment health sanitation inspections by cruise ships, the expectation of passenger cases of gastroenteritis on an average 7-day cruise increased from two cases during 1990–2000 to 3 cases during the study period. This increase, likely attributable to noroviruses, highlights the inability of environmental programs to fully predict and prevent risk factors common to person-to-person and fomite spread of diseaseref. Approximately 60 episodes of viral gastroenteritis aboard ships, involving 10 000 to 11 000 passengers, have been reported since 1986 (unless otherwise indicated, outbreaks affected ships embarking from the USA) : Contagion : the communication of disease from one individual to another. It may be ...
  • direct contagion (parasites are transmitted from one individual to another belonging to the same species)
  • indirect contagion : environmental microorganisms are often more drug-resistant than parasitic ones due to daily survival from antibiosis (e.g. : down-regulated and narrowed porins)..