Infectious Disease Control and Prevention

Infectious disease control and prevention involves stopping the occurrence and reducing the spread or transmission of infectious diseases, which are conditions caused by pathogenic organisms like viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites.

Now, infectious diseases are transmitted in a number of different ways when an infection is transmitted from a parent to an offspring via sperm, placenta, breast milk or contact with the vaginal canal during delivery, that's called vertical transmission.

This is seen in syphilis which is transmitted through the placenta and HIV that is transmitted through the placenta during delivery or through breastfeeding.

Infectious diseases can also be transmitted from person to person called horizontal transmission through several routes.

For example, diseases can spread through direct contact with an infected person, like with sexually transmitted infections or STIs that are spread during sexual intercourse and diseases like ringworm and scabies that spread through skin to skin contact.

Other times a disease can be spread through indirect contact which involves a vehicle of transmission outside of the infected person.

This commonly occurs during contact with contaminated objects called fomites like doorknobs, countertops or bedding. When contaminated medical equipment is involved.

Healthcare associated infections or AIS can result which is when a pathogen is transmitted to a patient within a healthcare setting.

While they're receiving treatment for another condition, patients can develop healthcare associated infections. When infection control measures are inadequate, like during or after diagnostic or surgical procedures or when pathogens are introduced through invasive devices like central lines, urinary catheters and ventilators.

Healthcare associated infections can also occur through the common vehicle route, which is when an infectious agent is spread to multiple people through a contaminated source like food water, saliva or blood products.

So in the healthcare setting, diseases like HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C can be transmitted through contaminated blood products.

In other settings, common vehicle transmission can occur through food borne diseases like norovirus, salmonella and E coli that are transmitted due to poor hand hygiene or improper food preparation, storage or handling.

On top of that, there's waterborne diseases like giardiasis and cholera that occur when water becomes contaminated. Typically by human or animal waste.

An illness occurs after drinking, cooking with or engaging in activities in contaminated water. Lastly, diseases like tuberculosis are transmitted through contaminated droplets in the air.

Next contact with vectors such as insects like ticks, mosquitoes or flies can cause vector borne diseases. In this situation, the infectious agent is transmitted biologically or mechanically by a vector in biological transmission.

The vector helps the pathogen develop like when a mosquito carries and matures the zika virus before infecting another person.

Whereas in mechanical transmission, the vector passively transports the pathogen like when a fly picks up bacteria from trash and then deposits it when landing on food.

Other examples of vector borne illnesses include lyme disease spread via ticks and malaria spread through mosquitoes. There are also some diseases classified as travel related diseases or diseases of travelers, meaning theyre contracted during global travel due to exposure to unfamiliar pathogens, climates and sanitation practices.

These can include vector borne diseases like malaria diseases transmitted through contaminated droplets like tuberculosis and waterborne diseases like cholera.

Sometimes a traveler can become infected while abroad and then expose others to the illness upon returning home. Finally, some diseases can be transmitted through multiple modes.

For example, toxoplasmosis, which is classified as a zoonotic disease can be acquired through eating undercooked meat of infected animals or through contact with soil or water contaminated with cat feces.

If a pregnant person becomes infected, the infection can be transmitted vertically to the fetus via the placenta, causing serious health problems in the newborn.

Ok. So there are three levels of infectious disease prevention.

Primary prevention involves taking steps to stop a disease from occurring in the first place. For example, completing regular inspections of the community water supply to ensure it's clean and potable, administering vaccines and monitoring vaccination records in schools and daycare settings and providing teaching on ways infectious diseases can be prevented.

Secondary prevention includes early detection and intervention to prevent an existing disease from spreading. For instance, conducting surveillance and reporting cases of infection in a community, issuing a recall of contaminated food items from a local grocery store or requiring those with influenza to wear a mask while being transported within a healthcare setting.

Finally, tertiary prevention focuses on reducing complications and disability caused by infectious disease by providing treatment and managing rehabilitation to minimize its impact.

This can involve activities like providing antiretroviral medication to limit complications in patients with HIV or reducing the risk of liver cancer.

For those with hepatitis C by encouraging lifestyle modifications like avoiding alcohol. All right, as a quick recap, infectious disease control and prevention involves stopping the occurrence and reducing the spread or transmission of infectious diseases which are conditions caused by pathogenic organisms like viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites.

Prevention of infectious disease involves three levels of intervention, primary, secondary and tertiary.