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An infectious disease agent can be transmitted in two ways: as horizontal disease agent transmission from one individual to another in the same generation (peers in the same age group) [3] by either direct contact (licking, touching, biting), or indirect contact through air – cough or sneeze (vectors or fomites that allow the transmission of the agent causing the disease without physical ...
Infectious aerosols may stay suspended in air currents long enough to travel for considerable distances; sneezes, for example, can easily project infectious droplets for dozens of feet (ten or more meters). [12] Airborne pathogens or allergens typically enter the body via the nose, throat, sinuses and lungs. Inhalation of these pathogens ...
Pathogens include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, parasitic worms (helminths), and viruses. Each of these different types of organisms can then be further classified as a pathogen based on its mode of transmission. This includes the following: food borne, airborne, waterborne, blood-borne, and vector-borne.
Microorganisms carried in this manner can be dispersed widely by air currents and may become inhaled by a susceptible host within the same room or over a longer distance from the source patient, depending on environmental factors; therefore, special air-handling and ventilation are required to prevent airborne transmission. Microorganisms ...
A representation by Robert Seymour of the cholera epidemic depicts the spread of the disease in the form of poisonous air.. The miasma theory was the predominant theory of disease transmission before the germ theory took hold towards the end of the 19th century; it is no longer accepted as a correct explanation for disease by the scientific community.
A microorganism, or microbe, [a] is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells.. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from ancient times, such as in Jain scriptures from sixth century BC India.
Bacteria in the culture on the right are resistant to most of the antibiotics. In addition to drugs being specific to a certain kind of organism (bacteria, fungi, etc.), some drugs are specific to a certain genus or species of organism, and will not work on other organisms. Because of this specificity, medical microbiologists must consider the ...
The body has defence mechanisms that enable it to resist microbial invasion of its tissues and give it a natural immunity or innate resistance against many microorganisms. Pathogenic bacteria are specially adapted and endowed with mechanisms for overcoming the normal body defences, and can invade parts of the body, such as the blood, where ...