I.

Communicable Diseases
1. Causes
a. Infection develops when your body does not fight off pathogens quickly and
successfully
b. Viruses
1. Must run its course before it’s killed by immune system
2. Viruses cannot be cured, but they can be treated
c. Bacteria
1. Some bacteria are harmless or even helpful
2. Can produce toxins; treated with antibiotics
3. Can become resistant to antibiotics
d. Other Pathogens
1. Fungi cause athlete’s foot
2. Protozoa cause malaria
3. Rickettsias cause typhus
2. How they Spread
a. Direct Contact: ex. Touching, biting, kissing, sexual contact
1. Puncture wounds: person can get tetanus from stepping on a rusty nail
2. Childbirth: pregnant woman can transmit to her unborn child through
placenta
3. Contact with infected animals: animal bites and scratches
b. Indirect Contact
1. Contaminated objects: you can pick up pathogens from a contaminated
and get it into your body through a mucous membrane (ex. eyes)
2. Vectors: flies, mosquitoes, ticks can spread malaria, West Nile virus, and
Lyme disease (vector-borne diseases)
3. Contaminated Food and Water: when food is improperly handled or stored,
harmful bacteria can develop (feces cause hepatitis A)
c. Airborne Transmission
1. Sneezes or coughs release infections as tiny droplets in air
2. When droplets evaporate, pathogens float on dust particles until inhaled
3. Chicken pox, tuberculosis, influenza, inhalation anthrax
3. Precautions and Prevention
a. Wash your hands
1. Single most effective way
2. Wash hands with soap and warm water before eating, after bathroom,
handling pets, applying makeup, touching contaminated object
b. Protect from vectors
1. limit time outdoors at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes most active
2. Wear pants and long sleeve shirts to avoid insect bites
3. Use insect repellent, avoid contact with dead birds
c. Other Strategies
1. Avoid sharing personal items, handle food properly, eat well and exercise,
 avoid drugs and alcohol, abstain from sex, cover mouth when cough/
sneeze, wash hands after using tissue
4. Respiratory infections: occur in respiratory tract; nose, throat, and lungs
a. Common Cold
1. Causes inflammation of mucous membrane; sneezing, sore throat, runny
nose
2. spread by all three transmissions
3. No cure; best treatment is to get rest and drink liquids
b. Influenza (Flu)
1. Viral infection of respiratory tract; high fever, fatigue, headache, muscle
muscle aches, coughing
2. Treated with nutrition, rest, and lots of liquids
3. Can be prevented with vaccine
c. Pneumonia
1. Flu can lead to infection of lungs in which air sacs fill with pus and other
liquids; symptoms similar to flu
2. Viral pneumonia can be treated with antiviral drugs, bacterial pneumonia
may be treated with antibiotics
3. Can be fatal
d. Strep throat
1. Bacterial infection; sore throat, fever, enlarged lymph nodes
2. Can be treated with antibiotics; untreated, can lead to heart damage
e. Tuberculosis
1. Bacterial disease that attacks lungs; fatigue, coughing, fever, weight loss,
night sweats
2. Affects people with weak immune systems, can be treated with antibiotics if
If not resistant
5. Hepatitis
a. At least 5 types, however the most common are A, B, and C
i. Jaundice
1. A symptom that is a yellowing of the skin and eyes.
ii. Cirrhosis
1. A symptom that is scarring of the liver.
iii. Hepatitis A
1. Attacks the digestive system. Fever, vomiting, fatigue, abdominal
pain, and jaundice.
iv. Hepatitis B
1. Spread through sexual contact or contact with infected blood.
2. Fever, vomiting, fatigue, abdominal pain, jaundice, liver failure,
and cirrhosis.
v. Hepatitis C
1. Direct contact with contaminated needles and blood.
2. Jaundice, dark urine, fatigue, abdominal pain, and loss of appetite,
chronic liver disease, liver cancer, and liver failure.