Related topics: swine flu , vaccine , hiv , influenza , flu
Infectious disease
hideAn infectious disease is a clinically evident disease resulting from the presence of pathogenic microbial agents, including pathogenic viruses, pathogenic bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions. These pathogens are able to cause disease in animals and/or plants. Infectious pathologies are usually qualified as contagious diseases (also called communicable diseases) due to their potential of transmission from one person or species to another. Transmission of an infectious disease may occur through one or more of diverse pathways including physical contact with infected individuals. These infecting agents may also be transmitted through liquids, food, body fluids, contaminated objects, airborne inhalation, or through vector-borne spread.
The term infectivity describes the ability of an organism to enter, survive and multiply in the host, while the infectiousness of a disease indicates the comparative ease with which the disease is transmitted to other hosts. An infection however, is not synonymous with an infectious disease, as an infection may not cause important clinical symptoms or impair host function.
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News tagged with infectious diseases
Think again about keeping little ones so squeaky clean
Dec 08, 2009 |
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A new Northwestern University study suggests that American parents should ease up on antibacterial soap and perhaps allow their little ones a romp or two in the mud --- or at least a much better acquaintance with everyday ...
New explanation for nature's hardiest life form
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Got food poisoning? The cause might be bacterial spores, en extremely hardy survival form of bacteria, a nightmare for health care and the food industry and an enigma for scientists. Spore-forming bacteria, present almost ...
Researchers discover a new antibacterial lead
Sep 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Antibiotic resistance has been a significant problem for hospitals and health-care facilities for more than a decade. But despite the need for new treatment options, there have been only two ...
A world first: Vaccine helps prevent HIV infection
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Sep 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In an encouraging development, an investigational vaccine regimen has been shown to be well-tolerated and to have a modest effect in preventing HIV infection in a clinical trial involving ...
First adhere, then detach and glide forward
Dec 23, 2009 |
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How do one-celled parasites move from the salivary gland of a mosquito through a person's skin into red blood cells? What molecular mechanisms form the basis for this very important movement of the protozoa? ...
Cells defend themselves from viruses, bacteria with armor of protein errors
Nov 25, 2009 |
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When cells are confronted with an invading virus or bacteria or exposed to an irritating chemical, they protect themselves by going off their DNA recipe and inserting the wrong amino acid into new proteins to defend them ...
Moderate exercise in mice boosts immune system, diminishes flu's severity
Oct 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It appears as though exercise pain does have plenty of gain when it comes to fighting off the severe effects of the flu. A new study by five Iowa State University researchers on mice infected ...
Animals now picking up bugs from people, study shows
Oct 26, 2009 |
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Globalisation and industrialisation are causing diseases to spread from humans to animals, a study has shown.
Earlier Flu Viruses Provided Some Immunity to Current H1N1 Influenza, Study Shows
Oct 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of California, Davis, researchers studying the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, formerly referred to as "swine flu," have identified a group of immunologically important sites on the ...
Captive turtle found to have infectious disease
Oct 05, 2009 |
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An Australian veterinary student said Monday she has documented the country's first known case of a bred-in-captivity turtle acquiring a highly infectious disease which could potentially spread to humans.
Aspirin misuse may have made 1918 flu pandemic worse
Oct 02, 2009 |
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The devastation of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic is well known, but a new article suggests a surprising factor in the high death toll: the misuse of aspirin. Appearing in the November 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Di ...
Prostate cancer may be caused by virus, study indicates
Sep 18, 2009 |
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Mounting evidence indicates that prostate cancer is an infectious disease caused by a recently identified virus.
Sending science down the phone: New technology will map research across the world
Sep 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New mobile phone software will help epidemiologists and ecologists working in the field to analyse their data remotely and map findings across the world, without having to return to the lab, ...
Studying ancient man to learn to prevent disease
Sep 15, 2009 |
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Health care as we know it didn't exist 3,000 years ago. But along the Georgia coast, the Pacific Northwest, and coastal Brazil, people grew tall and strong and lived relatively free of disease. They ate game, fish, shellfish ...
New research confirms potential deadly nature of emerging new monkey malaria species in humans
Sep 09, 2009 |
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Researchers in Malaysia have identified key laboratory and clinical features of an emerging new form of malaria infection. The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, confirms the potentially deadly nature of the disease.
