Infectious diseases
Many organisms live in our bodies, where they are usually harmless or helpful. However, when these microorganisms are placed under certain conditions, they may cause disease. Infectious diseases are spread directly or indirectly from one person to another, while animals transmit others. Infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans are referred to as zoonotic diseases. Examples of zoonotic diseases include animal flu, anthrax, rabies, malaria, bird flu, brucellosis, and bovine tuberculosis (Beltz). Also, one can get an infectious disease when they consume food or water that is contaminated.
Causes and spread of infectious diseases
Pathogenic microorganisms cause infectious diseases. Such microorganisms include bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. Bacteria are one-cell organisms that bring about various illnesses to human beings. Examples of diseases known to be caused by bacteria include tuberculosis, strep throat, and urinary tract infections. Viruses are smaller microorganisms compared to bacteria. They cause a range of infectious diseases, including common cold and AIDS. Fungi are microorganisms known to cause various skin diseases such as ringworms and athlete’s foot. Some types of fungi are also known to infect the lungs and the nervous system. Parasites transmit infectious diseases in various ways (World Health Organization). For instance, malaria is caused by a tiny parasite that is transmitted by mosquitoes. Other parasites may be transmitted to humans from animal feces.
Infectious diseases spread quickly when people come into contact with an infected person or animal. Infectious diseases are spread directly through person to person contact, animal to person contact, and mother to unborn child contact. Person to person spread often occurs when microorganisms are transferred from one person to another (Beltz). This happens when infected individuals touch, kiss, cough, or sneeze on someone who is not infected. Sometimes people who have infectious diseases may show no symptoms, yet they can spread the disease, meaning they are carriers. Animal to person spread occurs when an individual who is not infected gets bitten or scratched by an animal. Those who handle animal waste are more exposed since they might come into contact with it. For instance, it is likely for someone who scoops cats’ litter boxes to suffer from toxoplasmosis. On the other hand, an expectant mother can spread infectious diseases to her unborn baby. Microorganisms can pass through the placenta or transferred directly to the child through breast milk. Also, during birth, babies can get infected if the vagina has microorganisms. Mothers are encouraged to visit their doctors to protect their kids regularly.
Moreover, the spread can take place indirectly. Microorganisms that cause diseases can be passed through indirect contact. Such organisms can linger on objects such as doorknobs, utensils, or tabletops. This means that when uninfected people come into contact with infected objects, they are likely to suffer from the disease (Beltz). When an individual touches their nose, eyes, or mouth before washing their hands, they become infected.
Symptoms of infectious diseases
Every infectious disease comes with its own unique and specific signs and symptoms. However, most infectious diseases have general and common symptoms. These symptoms may include fever, fatigue, diarrhea, muscle aches, and coughing. Symptoms vary from one individual to another. It is essential to see a doctor once such symptoms begin to appear. People should seek medical attention if they have been bitten by animals, experience swelling, experience vision problems, have unexplained fever, or are having trouble breathing (World Health Organization).
Anyone can catch infectious diseases, but people with lower immunity systems or their immune system is not working correctly are at a higher risk. This occurs to people who take steroids or medications that might suppress their immune systems, people who have HIV or AIDS, and people with certain types of cancers that suppress the immune systems. While most infectious diseases have minor complications, others such as meningitis can be life-threatening. Also, other infectious diseases such as chickenpox may become silent only to reappear in the future.
Prevention of Infectious diseases
People can observe various guidelines and tips to reduce the rate at which infectious diseases spread. Individuals should be encouraged to wash their hands regularly. This is vital, especially before preparing food or after visiting the toilet. Also, people should get vaccinated as it reduces the chances of getting infected with many diseases. Maintaining a clean kitchen and thoroughly washing food and fruits before eating is essential to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Also, people should stop sharing personal items. Toothbrushes, razors, and combs are the most shared personal items. Sharing glasses or spoons can also expose people to infectious diseases. While traveling out of the country or to disease-prone regions, people should consult their doctors about any special vaccinations (Brabaw). This reduces the spread of infectious diseases from one region or country to another.
Epidemics
An epidemic occurs when a large number of people within a population get infected with an infectious disease at the same time. This can happen to a particular community or region. Epidemics are usually characterized by widespread growth or the spread of disease. When cases of an illness occurring at the same place surpass the expected number, it is then referred to as an epidemic. These cases usually have the same causes or are related in one way or another. Epidemic and outbreak are terms used interchangeably, but an outbreak is small and unusual, whereas an epidemic is more significant and spreads fast. An outbreak can be noticed, it is often small, and it increases over the expected number of cases. If noticed early enough, an outbreak can be easily contained to prevent additional illness. An epidemic, on the other hand, occurs in a larger geographic area compared to an outbreak. It is hard to predict the number of cases likely to be infected. If an outbreak is not contained, it grows into an epidemic.
To trigger an epidemic, various changes may occur in an infectious agent (Brabaw). The susceptibility to the infectious agent may change in a host, and a pathogen’s ability to infect a host increases. Various conditions determine how fast an epidemic is going to spread. Such conditions include contaminated food or water, size of the population in a region, type of transmission, and the migration of animals and humans. Besides, certain epidemics take place during certain seasons. For instance, infections that affect the upper respiratory tract often happen during winter. Epidemics can be of two types, common source outbreak and propagated outbreak (World Health Organization). Common source outbreak epidemic takes place when those who are affected by the disease were exposed to a common agent. Propagated outbreak occurs when a disease is transferred from one person to another. Once an individual is affected, they become agents leading to more spread. Many times epidemics are characterized by both common source propagated outbreaks. Understanding the type of epidemic can help contain it efficiently.
Transmission
Various epidemics are transferred in various ways. First, airborne transmission occurs when droplets that contain disease-causing organisms in the air are inhaled or come into contact with an uninfected person. Arthropod transmission takes place when an insect is used to transmit microorganisms. Biological transmission involves biological processes (World Health Organization). This is where an individual passes a stage of development of the infecting agent in an intermediate host. An agent causing disease is transmitted directly or indirectly through contact transmission. In cases where susceptible hosts are infected with the disease through the ingestion of contaminated material, which may be shed by an infected host through feces is referred to as fecal-oral transmission.
Challenges and risk factors for epidemics in the present day
With time, epidemics have changed and will continue to do so. There is increased contact between people or between animals and human beings (Brabaw). With rapid global change taking place, some of these factors are unavoidable. With improved means of transport, both internationally and regionally, there is fast and intense mobility of people. Also, for decades, many people have been seen to migrate from rural areas to urban places in search of better jobs. Due to this population continues to swell in major cities. This has posed greater risks of transmitting infectious diseases. In most developing countries, poor living standards have led to the fast spread of the disease. This is because most people do not have proper sanitation, and they do not lead a healthy life. In rural areas, it is likely for new diseases to rise unnoticed (World Health Organization). This is because there is close and repeated contact between people and livestock. Besides, people in rural areas tend to be poorer with less access to health care. As a result, epidemics arise fast since infections may go undetected and untreated. This was evident with the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
Additionally, during the 21st-century people have been seen to flee their homes due to civil rights, massive displacement, humanitarian emergencies, political instability, and natural disasters. This has led to increment in refugee camps. Usually, these camps are overcrowded and with poor living conditions (World Health Organization). Most refugee camps have had outbreaks of infectious diseases, which later grew into epidemics. Deforestation is another factor that has contributed to increased epidemics in the present day. Due to deforestation, there has been increased contact between humans and wildlife, such as monkeys. Wildlife is a potential source of new pathogens.
The use of traditional control measures to handle epidemics is one of the major challenges facing the government and health facilities. Most traditional methods are no longer efficient due to improved technology and increased population. These methods should be re-examined, considering that people need their freedom of movement. Quarantine is one of the traditional measures which are effective in controlling epidemics, but it has proved to be strenuous in the current generation (Taylor). This is because, with an increase in population, there are fewer job opportunities, meaning that most people get their daily food by going out to work on a daily basis. If measures such as lockdown or quarantine are put in place in the present day, most people are going to die out of hunger. Moreover, doctors use antibiotics to treat infections. From the 20th century, many antibiotics have not healed the infections (World Health Organization). This is because antimicrobial resistance has increased. Resistant infection may lead to death, and it might spread to others. This requires that health professions should come up with new ways and methods to treat and limit the spread of the disease.
With increased technology, communication has been made easier. It is easier to communicate with people internationally in the present day compared to the past. However, this is a challenge when some individuals abuse means of communication. People use various platforms of communication to pass force information, especially during epidemics or pandemics, causing panic. False and misleading information is dangerous as it can lead to public reluctance to adopt control measures. On the other hand, health professionals should use available means of communication to pass accurate and latest information. Uncertainties that come along with epidemics should be made clear through these means of communication.
Pandemics
If an epidemic is not contained, it grows into a pandemic (Brabaw). A pandemic is a disease outbreak that spreads across countries and continents. More people are affected, which leads to more deaths. The disease is out of control. COVID-19 is an example of a pandemic that is currently affecting the whole world. It was declared as a pandemic once it became clear that it was a severe illness that was quickly spreading over a wide area.
Pandemics are classified into various stages, depending on the type of disease involved. For instance, zoonotic diseases spread from animal to animal, animal to humans, then humans to humans. An epidemic begins as an outbreak and later becomes a pandemic. Many governments are not able to control pandemics, especially in low-income countries.
Response in case of a pandemic
To control a pandemic and reduce the spread, it is important to organize ideas and make sure no vital points are overlooked. This will help analyze the pandemic and decide which kind of action is required depending on the disease. For some diseases, vaccination is needed while others require treatment. Most pandemics require an emergency operation center. Countries affected by a pandemic should be ready to dedicate a physical space for emergency cases. Also, they should have a well-crafted plan where they can attend meetings and fill documentation about the pandemic (Taylor). To control a pandemic, it is crucial to take note of its pattern and document the progress. Besides, the public should be updated as the situation evolves. The government should share information such as telephone numbers that people can use to reach out to health facilities in case of emergencies. Just like in epidemics, most governments face the challenge of infodemic during pandemics (World Health Organization). Infodemic is the rapid spread of false information and rumors during a pandemic. The government should come up with ways to manage an infodemic.
Engaging the community during a pandemic
Pandemics affect political, social, and economic aspects. COVID-19, for instance, has affected every individual in one way or another. People are no longer free to travel or trade as freely as they used to. Social ties have been affected since people can no longer gather. People no longer attend church physically since they might increase the spread of the disease. Many political leaders all over the country have died as a result of COVID-19. Due to such reasons, governments should know how to engage the public both locally and internationally. Assuring the public that everything is going to be okay is vital for their mental health.
During pandemics, many people are depressed since they are not assured about the future (Taylor). Governments should provide the public with free counseling sessions to reassure them and give them a positive attitude while fighting the disease. Moreover, the public should be educated on ways in which the disease is spreading and ways to contain it. People, for instance, have been advised to wash their hands thoroughly and avoid touching their mouth nose and eyes during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have also been advised to use sanitizers often to avoid spreading the virus. Governments should always be ready to support their people in case of outbreaks, epidemics, or pandemics.
Works Cited
Beltz, Lisa A. Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Guide to Diseases, Causative Agents, and Surveillance. John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
Brabaw, Kasandra. “Epidemic Vs. Pandemic: What Exactly Is the Difference?” Health.com, 13 Mar. 2020, www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/epidemic-vs-pandemic.
Taylor, S. The psychology of pandemics: Preparing for the next global outbreak of infectious disease. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019.
World Health Organization. Integrating social science interventions in epidemic, pandemic and health emergencies response: report of the informal consultation, London, England, 8 June 2017. World Health Organization, 2018.