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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to concepts related to infectious diseases in humans.. Infection – transmission, entry/invasion after evading/overcoming defense, establishment, and replication of disease-causing microscopic organisms (pathogens) inside a host organism, and the reaction of host tissues to them and to the toxins they produce.
Infectious diseases are sometimes called contagious diseases when they are easily transmitted by contact with an ill person or their secretions (e.g., influenza). Thus, a contagious disease is a subset of infectious disease that is especially infective or easily transmitted. All contagious diseases are infectious, but not vice versa.
There are four kinds of microorganisms that cause infectious disease: bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses, and one type of infectious protein called prion. A medical microbiologist studies the characteristics of pathogens, their modes of transmission, mechanisms of infection and growth
Physicians who desire to become infection control practitioners often are trained in the context of an infectious disease fellowship. Training that is conducted "face to face", via a computer, or via video conferencing may help improve compliance and reduce errors when compared with "folder based" training (providing health care professionals ...
A zoonosis is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen that can jump from a non-human host to a human. [35] Major diseases such as Ebola virus disease and salmonellosis are zoonoses. HIV was a zoonotic disease transmitted to humans in the early part of the 20th century, though it has now evolved into a separate human-only disease. [36]
An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by pathogens (bacteria, fungi, parasites or viruses) that take advantage of an opportunity not normally available.These opportunities can stem from a variety of sources, such as a weakened immune system (as can occur in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or when being treated with immunosuppressive drugs, as in cancer treatment), [1] an altered ...
Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease. [1] This article focuses on the bacteria that are pathogenic to humans. Most species of bacteria are harmless and many are beneficial but others can cause infectious diseases. The number of these pathogenic species in humans is estimated to be fewer than a hundred. [2]
A viral disease (or viral infection) occurs when an organism's body is invaded by pathogenic viruses, and infectious virus particles (virions) attach to and enter susceptible cells. [ 1 ] Examples are the common cold , gastroenteritis , corona , flu , pneumonia .