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Infectious Disease Control and Prevention

What Are Infectious Diseases?

Infectious diseases are human illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, protozoa, fungi, and other microbes. We call these tiny microorganisms "germs". Germs are found everywhere.

How Germs Spread

1) Direct Contact:

• A) Person to Person - direct contact with an infected person - touching, kissing, exchange of body fluids from sexual contact or a blood transfusion.
• B) Mother to Unborn Child - germs can pass through the placenta, as is the case of the AIDS virus and the toxoplasmosis parasite, or germs could spread during labor and delivery, as is the case for a mother infected with group B streptococcus.
• C) Animal to Person -
  • 1) Bitten or scratched by an infected animal
  • 2) Insect bites like mosquitos (malaria parasite or West Nile virus), ticks (deer ticks may carry the bacterium that causes Lyme disease), fleas, or lice. (all called disease vectors)
  • 3) Contact with contaminated animal droppings. Example, you can acquire a toxoplasmosis infection by scooping your cat's litter box, particularly if you're pregnant.

2) Indirect Contact:

• A) Touching contaminated inanimate objects, such as tabletops, doorknobs or faucet handles and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth before washing your hands.
• B) Coughing or sneezing on someone, called droplet spread or droplet transmission. Crowded, indoor environments may promote the chances of droplet transmission. Air travel allows diseases to spread between cities on opposite ends of the globe in a matter of hours.
• C) Eating contaminated food ( food poisoning) or drinking contaminated water.
• D) Breathing contaminated air - called particle transmission. Colds caused by viruses, influenza (the flu) and tuberculosis are a few types of infectious diseases usually spread through the air, both in particle and droplet forms.

Infectious Disease Control and Prevention

What you can do to protect yourself and others from germs that cause infectious diseases:

• 1) Wash Your Hands...Handwashing is one of the simplest, easiest, and most effective ways to prevent getting or passing on many germs. Amazingly, it is also one of the most overlooked.
  
  

  Health care experts recommend scrubbing your hands vigorously for at least 15 seconds with soap and water, about as long as it takes to recite the English alphabet. This will wash away cold viruses and staph and strep bacteria as well as many other disease-causing microbes.

  
  
  It is especially important to wash your hands:
  • Before preparing or eating food
  • After coughing or sneezing
  • After using the bathroom
  • After changing a diaper
• 2) Clean and disinfect surfaces in your home often
• 3) Handle and prepare food safely
• 4) Get vaccinated
• 5) Use antibiotics properly
• 6) Practice safe sex
• 7) Don't share personal items
• 8) Stay at home if you are sick
• 9) Practice animal safety and keep your pets healthy

YOU SHOULD CALL A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF...

• You have been bitten by an animal
• You are having difficulty breathing
• You have a cough that has lasted for more than a week
• You have a fever higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit
• You have episodes of rapid heartbeat
• You have a rash (especially if you have a fever at the same time)
• You have swelling
• You suddenly start having difficulty with seeing (blurry vision, for example)
• You have been vomiting

References:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
NIH Publication No. 06-4914
January 2006
www3.niaid.nih.gov/
www.cfsan.fda.gov/