Biology: What are communicable diseases?

A communicable disease such as a cold is a disease that spreads from person to person. Communicable diseases are diseases that you can "catch" from someone or something else. Some people may use the words contagious or infectious when talking about communicable diseases.

Different types of germs?

There are four major types of germs:

Bacteria Viruses Fungi Protozoa

Bacteria are EVERYWHERE! They live in sub freezing cold temperatures and boiling hot temperatures. They live up high in the sky and down deep below the ocean. In fact scientists have found colonies of bacteria thriving 1,600 feet below sea level without oxygen or sunlight. Scientists also think there are signs of microbial life on Mars! Some bacteria are harmful but most are harmless or even helpful.

Few harmful causes of bacterias:

Common bacteria associated with food poisoning is Salmonella. When this bacteria is eaten it causes nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Did we ever become sick with Strep throat? Strep throat is caused by a common type of bacteria called Streptococcus. Strains of streptococcus that cause throat and skin infections lurk worldwide and spread by touch or through the air. Strep is usually not fatal and can be treated with antibiotics.

What is virus?
Viruses depend upon a host to survive, grow, and reproduce. A host is the plant or animal on which or in which another organism lives. Viruses can't live outside of other living cells. Viruses are the smallest and simplest microbes, just a ball of genes wrapped in a shell - about a millionth of an inch across. No one knows exactly how long they've been on Earth or how they evolved.

Once they are inside the body, viruses can spread and make people sick. They reproduce by injecting their genes into a cell to produce thousands of new viruses.

Different types of virus: Dengue virus, cholera, measles, herpes virus, adenovirus etc. Viral infections serious and its symptoms: Everyone has a flu or a bad cold once in a while, so a viral infection usually isn't serious. Of course it can be very bothersome and unfortunately there isn't any properly effective medication to cure viral infection, antibiotics aren't effective either, because those focus on bacteria, not viruses. Symptoms:

Fever Fatigue Headache Depending on the virus Coughing Diarrhea Abdominal pain Sore throat.

Chemistry:

The Chemical Disease Surveillance Program serves various functions to protect and promote the health of Florida citizens. The program provides education and consultation to County Health Departments and other stakeholders on chemical disease surveillance. Arsenic, mercury, carbon monoxide and pesticide poisonings are reportable conditions in Florida. Any reports of these chemical exposures are investigated and reported to the state. In addition to these reportable chemical diseases, the Chemical Disease Surveillance Program also monitors other chemicals in near real-time by using Florida Poison Information Center Network (FPICN) data and hospital emergency room chief complaint data. The program epidemiologists monitor data trends on disease syndromes such as respiratory or gastro-intestinal

diseases to look for disease outbreaks. We also monitor increases in Florida Poison Information Center call volume due to specific substance and overdose of drugs such as cough and cold or anti-diarrheal medicines as an outbreak signal. These preliminary data are analyzed in near real time and serve to guide a timely outbreak response.