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What is an infection?

An infection is the invasion, multiplication, and reaction of the body tissues to the disease-causing microorganisms and the toxins that they create. It is caused by microorganisms like viroids, bacteria, prions, and viruses, as well as larger organisms such as fungi and macroparasites.

What is an infectious disease?

An infection is not the same with infectious disease due to the fact that some infections do not cause diseases in a host. However, an infectious disease happens when the protective immune mechanism of the host is compromised by various organisms, inflicting damage to the host. 

An infectious disease starts when an organism enters, grows, multiplies, and eventually colonizes inside the body. Microorganisms release varieties of destructive enzymes or toxins, causing tissue damage. Generally, organisms enter the body through the orifices’ mucosa such as the nose, genitalia, open wounds, oral cavity, eyes and anus. While some organisms grow at the first site of entry, some of them migrate, causing systematic infections on various organs of the body. Some of these pathogens grow inside the host cell, while others grow liberally in body fluids.

Nevertheless, not all infective agents can cause infectious diseases. Some individuals are not easily infected. However, those who are mal-nourished, sick, diabetic, have cancer, and the weak have high susceptibility to persistent or chronic infectious diseases. Some individuals who also have suppressed immune systems are mostly susceptible to opportunistic infectious diseases.

If the body is incapable of clearing out the organism after the first infection, it is then that the persistent infectious disease occurs. This type is characterized by the incessant presence of the infectious organism. Some viruses maintain a persistent infection by contaminating different cells of the human body. Some viruses also never leave the body once they are acquired. Persistent infectious diseases cause millions of deaths worldwide every year.

What are the symptoms of an infection?

The symptoms of an infection vary, depending on the type of illness. Some signs affect the entire body such as fatigue, weight loss, chills, loss of appetite, night sweats, fevers, aches and pains. Some of them are specific to various body parts like runny nose, coughing and skin rashes.

How is an infectious disease transmitted?

Some infectious diseases can be transmitted from one person to another quickly, while others are harder to get. If a person touches another person who is infected with a flu or cold, she or he may get their infectious disease. Other infectious diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis B, and herpes can only be passed via closer contact.

How to treat an infectious disease?

Infectious diseases caused by bacteria can be treated with antibiotics. Infections caused by viruses need special medicines called antivirals. Some of these diseases go away without the need for treatment, such as colds. Some of them can also be prevented through immunizations. This should be done before an individual gets the infection disease.

Most people are unprepared for an emergency when it happens. Hurricane Katrina left many without power, clean water or a roof over their heads. A natural disaster can strike without warning, and there may be only minutes to act to get family and friends to safety. Natural disasters include earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and mud or landslides. It pays to prepare for an emergency or natural disaster to ensure that you and your family survive with adequate food, water and a warm shelter until help arrives which may be several days. Severe weather such as tornados, lightening storms and hurricanes are dangerous, because weather conditions can change quickly.

Planning ahead can take some of the stress out of an emergency situation. Fire drills help people know what to do in a fire and making a plan of action for an emergency will help everyone know where to gather and what to do to stay safe. People panic when there is no direction, so it is important to decide where to meet in an emergency.

Steps to Preparing for an Emergency

1. Make a Plan. – You should have a map of your home with exits marked to prevent confusion. Decide where all family members will gather to wait for the others such as a tree in the backyard, the basement or storm shelter if you have one, or any other suitable place that is safe. Practice the plan several times by conducting practice drills. These drills will ensure that everyone gets to the meeting place safely. If an emergency happens away from home, choose a place such as a library, school or church.
2. Have plenty of Basic Supplies. – To be prepared you must have basic survival supplies on hand. These include canned, dried and powdered foods in a quantity to last for your family for at least 12 months. Two things that will be in scarce supply is food and fresh water. Stores may not be open or looters may clean out shelves leaving nothing but dust. Stock up on canned fruits, vegetables and ready-to-eat meals like spaghetti and meatballs, beef stew, chili and chicken and dumplings when they are on sale, and store these items separately from other food. You may not have electricity, so a basic hand-held can opener and some plastic forks and spoons are all that is necessary. Buy jugs of filtered water and store in a safe place.
3. Have Access to Information. – A battery-operated radio will keep you in contact with rescue efforts. Television stations may be off the air, but many people are able to pick up radio signals even in remote areas. Keep a supply of fresh batteries, matches for lighting fires, blankets and a first-aid kit on hand to take care of minor emergencies. You should also have a form of transportation if needed. A boat, bicycle or motorcycle is an inexpensive method of transportation that uses little gas or electricity.

What is epidemiology?

Basically, it is the study of patterns and distribution of health-characteristics and health-events, along with why they happen and how they influence certain populations. It is a fundamental method used by public health researchers. It helps to provide evidence-based medicine, and valuable health policies, by identifying the risk factors for diseases.

An epidemiologist helps to design research studies, collect and analyze statistical data, and most importantly, they correctly interpret all of the results. There are various areas that they may choose to focus on, such as investigating outbreaks or comparing the results of different treatments. A biology background is valuable for anyone thinking of going into this field.

The diseases that can be studied with this method include cancer, heart disease, strokes and many more. Plus, injuries from car accidents, mental illnesses, sports injuries, and other conditions can benefit from epidemiology. The prevention and treatments for these ailments, depends on some kind of scientific formula that leads to a better understanding of the factors and causes involved.

Why is Epidemiology Important to Community Health?

All of these things are extremely important to the safety and health of communities, and the general population, because epidemiologist identify and measure the health events within the population. This scientific field develops a variety of models of how an event may occur, in order to recognize and understand those events on a higher level. 

Epidemiology is really a community health, problem solving process, which is similar to other processes used in healthcare. Nurses follow many similar steps as epidemiologists, as they have to first figure out what is happening in order to then treat the patient correctly. Disease prevention is a very important step in keeping the public healthy, and the old saying is true that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

This fascinating scientific field is not only important to the community, but it is also important to the clinicians, because it helps to keep hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities safer and more organized. This is why epidemiologists are so important. Simply by understanding how people become sick or injured, they are providing a great service to humankind in general and helping to protect communities from future health issues. They are able to describe the history of a disease, how it originated and how to control it. The study of epidemiology is an art, a science, and necessary to our understanding of the overall health of the general population.