Professional Documents
Culture Documents
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
A. Communicable Disease – caused by an infectious agent which is acquired from an infected individual and
transmitted to a susceptible host either by direct and indirect contact or through direct inoculation into a
broken skin or mucous membrane.
• The two persons important for a communicable disease to occur are the infected individual and the
susceptible host.
1. Infectious – disease is NOT easily transmitted from person to person. It requires inoculation, e.g.
tetanus, malaria, dengue, filariasis, rabies
Inoculation – entrance of microorganism through mechanical means, e.g. biting, puncturing,
laceration, open wound
2. Contagious – easily transmitted from one person to another through droplet, direct, or indirect
contact, e.g. tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles, chickenpox, meningococcemia
B. Epidemiology – the science of the patterns of disease, its occurrence, distribution, or spread and the
prevention and control among group of individuals as public health; backbone of disease prevention
1. Sporadic – on-and-off attack of the disease; intermittent or occasional; 20% susceptible host, 80%
immune (because occurrence is predictable and therefore, can be prevented)
2. Endemic – constantly present in a certain locality; 50% immune, 50% susceptible
Three endemic in the Philippines: (1) Malaria, (2) Filariasis, & (3) Schistosomiasis (with high
prevalence in Regions 5, 8, and 11)
3. Epidemic – number of cases exceeds beyond the normal number of cases for a short period of time;
80% susceptible host, 20% immune
4. Pandemic – worldwide epidemic, e.g. AIDS, SARS, Bird Flu
C. Triad of Disease Causation or the Epidemiologic Triad (by Leavell & Clark) – factors that interact to
cause a disease
Three Factors:
1. Agent – these are bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and parasites (biological agents)
Characteristics of Agent: Nonspecific
Infectivity – ability to enter the human body and to move into tissues response:
Virulence – strength, potency, or power of the agent to cause a disease • Calor
*the shorter the incubation period, the virulent the agent is • Rubor
Antigenicity – ability to stimulate antibody response (specific response) • Dolor
Pathogenicity – ability to cause infection or disease • Tumor
2. Environment – the medium for survival and multiplication of causative agent
• Functio laesa
3. Host – the area where the agent gets its nourishment
a. Humans
i. Carrier – asymptomatic; a person who harbors microorganisms but does not manifest
signs and symptoms; most dangerous
ii. Sub-clinically ill – manifests mild signs and symptoms; less dangerous
iii.Clinically ill – manifests ALL the signs and symptoms; least dangerous
b. Animal – serves as an intermediate host; secondary or transitional; important in the completion
of the life cycle or the microorganisms, e.g. oncomelania quadrasi (snail) in schistosomiasis
c. Plants – breeding places of animals
d. Soil, water, air, milk
e. Fomites – inanimate objects
Alert: All these factors are necessary to cause a disease; an absence of one factor will not cause a disease
*** If one factor is absent, it will lead to health or wellness
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E. Stages of Diseases
1. Incubation period – period from the first exposure to the causative agent to the appearance of the first
signs and symptoms
2. Prodromal period (catarrhal period) – period from the appearance of the first signs and symptoms to the
appearance of pathognomonic sign (classical sign)
3. Stage of Illness – manifestation of all signs and symptoms of the disease
4. Convalescence – stage of recovery; the signs and symptoms gradually disappearing
Types of Immunity
1. Natural Immunity – inborn, innate, and inherent
a. Active – exposure to certain disease and formation of memory cells
b. Passive – maternal antibodies received bu the fetus through placenta and infant through
breastmilk
2. Artificial - attained through the introduction of antigen – such as vaccine, toxoid, or antibody by
artificial means
a. Active – attained by introduction of antigen
e.g. all EPI vaccine except Hepatitis B
b. Passive – introduction of antibodies e.g. IgA, gammaglobulins, immunoglobulins from serum or
human
* Active – “slow to come, slow to go”
* Passive – “quick to come, quick to go” ; immediate
1. Prevention
a. Health Education
b. Environmental Sanitation
c. Specific Protection e.g. nutrition, immunization, personal hygiene
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2. Control
a. Notification and prompt intervention
b. Isolation and quarantine
c. Case finding – looking for the infected individuals
Contact tracing – looking for the exposed individuals
d. Epidemiological investigation
4. Types of Isolation
• Isolation – separation of infected individual from healthy one; used in case finding
• Quarantine – limitation of the freedom of movement of exposed individual or animal; used in
contract tracing
a. Strict isolation – indicated for highly contagious diseases like SARS, meningococcemia,
bird flu, anthrax
b. Protective or Reverse Isolation – intended for those with low resistance or
immunocompromised e.g. AIDS, burn, cancer, nephritic syndrome, organ transplant
c. Respiratory Isolation – intended for respiratory diseases
d. Enteric Precaution – intended for GIT diseases e.g. typhoid fever, cholera, shigellosis
e. Wound and Skin Precaution – intended for persons with skin diseases e.g. leprosy,
fungal infection, impetigo
f. Blood and Body Fluids / Standard / Universal Precaution – first line of precaution;
used when the disease is unknown; usage of gloves, masks, caps, mask, and goggles
Techniques:
1. Handwashing – single most effective way of preventing transmission of microorganisms.
* The most important factor in handwashing is friction.
2. Gowning
3. Masking
4. Disinfection
5. Placarding - barrier cards; “Unsterile / Unauthorized Persons Keep Out”
A. Viral
a. Measles / Rubeola C. Protozoan Parasites
b. German measles / Rubella a. Malaria
c. Chickenpox b. Amoebiasis
d. Poliomyelitis c. Trichomoniasis
e. H-fever (Dengue)
f. Rabies D. Fungal
g. Hepatitis a. Ringworm
h. AIDS b. Moniliasis
i. Mumps
j. Influenza E. Rickettsia
a. Chlamydia
B. Bacterial
a. Tuberculosis F. Intestinal Parasites
b. Leprosy a. Ascariasis
c. Diphtheria b. Enterobiasis
d. Pertussis c. Taeniasis
e. Tetanus d. Capillariasis
f. Cholera e. Ancyclostosomiasis
g. Typhoid fever f. Schistosomiasis
h. Pneumonia
i. Syphilis G. External Parasites
j. Gonorrhea a. Pediculosis
k. Bubonic plague b. Scabies
l. Botulism
Schedule of Vaccines