Infectious Diseases: Definition, Differences, and Control

This article provides an overview of infectious diseases, including their definition and the differences between bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. It also evaluates the effectiveness of drugs/immunization, hygiene practices, and isolation in controlling and preventing the spread of infections. Additionally, it discusses the signs and symptoms of three common infectious diseases.

TASK 8

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Infectious Diseases...........................................................................................................................1
Explain what is meant by “Infectious Diseases” (A/C 1.1)....................................................1
Discuss the differences between Bacterial, Fungal and Viral infections (A/C 1.2)...............1
Controlling and Preventing the Spread of Infection........................................................................2
Evaluate the effectiveness of drugs / immunisation (A/C 2.1)...............................................2
Evaluate the effectiveness of hygiene practices (A/C 2.1).....................................................2
Evaluate the effectiveness of the use of isolation (A/C 2.1)..................................................2
The Signs and Symptoms of Infectious Diseases............................................................................3
Signs and symptoms of 3 infectious diseases (A/C 3.1)........................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
An infection can be referred to as the invasion of the body tissues of an organism by way of
disease causing agent (like bacterium, fungi, parasite and virus), their growth, together with the
reaction of host tissues upon the infectious agent & toxin produced by them. An infection may
tend to result into not a single symptom and be subclinical or there is even a probability that
infection may result into symptom along with being clinically apparent (Berríos-Torres and et.
al., 2017). Besides this, infection control can be viewed as a chain of steps that are undertaken
within health care facility or hospitals for prevention or control of spread of infections. Some of
the most commonly used ways for controlling or preventing infection spread are isolation,
hygiene practices and drugs or immunisation. The current report seeks to explore information
about infectious diseases and effectiveness of some ways to prevent and control its spread. Also,
it consists of signs and symptoms of three infectious diseases.
Infectious Diseases
Explain what is meant by “Infectious Diseases” (A/C 1.1)
Infectious diseases can be referred to as the disorders that are caused by way of organisms like
virus, bacterium, fungi, parasite etc. There are several organisms which sustain in or over the
human body (Friedman and et. al., 2017). They are assumed to be helpful or, in other terms,
harmless. However, there are several instances whereby they may result into a disease.
Discuss the differences between Bacterial, Fungal and Viral infections (A/C 1.2)
The bacterial, viral and fungal infections tend to possess several differences which are studied in
a brief manner as follow:-
Bacterial infections Fungal infections Viral infections
Bacteria give rise to
bacterial infections.
Fungi tend to cause fungal
infection.
Viral infections are caused
by viruses.
Certain examples of
infections caused by
bacteria include whooping
cough, ear infection,
Urinary Tract Infection
(UTI), strep throat, etc.
Some examples of fungal
infection consists of athlete's
foot, jock itch, ringworm,
yeast infection etc.
Some of the most common
and renowned examples of
viral infection include
common cold, flu, warts etc.
(Suleyman and Alangaden,
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(Kuhar and et. al., 2018). 2016).
Controlling and Preventing the Spread of Infection
Evaluate the effectiveness of drugs / immunisation (A/C 2.1)
Drugs or immunisation to a large extent provide assistance to individuals in controlling the
spread of their infection. They even hold the capacity to protect the community from getting
affected because of the infected individual. Prophylactic vaccines possess the capacity of gaining
positive outcomes in terms of health services usage, general health and well being, cognitive
development, economic productivity etc. The effectiveness of drugs or immunisation can be
measures in an effective manner within vaccinated person or unvaccinated community (Lai and
et al., 2020). Over the course of time, immunisation has not just helped in protecting the infected
individual but also preventing the increasing transmission of pathogens.
Evaluate the effectiveness of hygiene practices (A/C 2.1)
Hygiene practices tend to play a great role in controlling infectious disease spread. However,
their effectiveness is limited to a certain extent (Walther, Tedin and Lübke-Becker, 2017). The
sole maintenance of hygienic practices cannot control or prevent an infectious disease from
spreading on a widespread scale. However, whenever the outbreak of any infectious disease
takes place, hygienic practice adoption is promoted by the healthcare professionals, social
workers and government so that the general health and well being of individuals can be duly
maintained.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the use of isolation (A/C 2.1)
Isolation is considered as the most effective way through which the spread of an infectious
disease can be controlled or prevented (Liu and et. al., 2019). Hereby, a person who is infected
by a disease is kept in an alone space for certain period of time so that they do not come in
contract with other organisms and spread the infection on a large scale level. The latest example
of use of isolation is in controlling the spread of coronavirus which has been affecting the whole
world.
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The Signs and Symptoms of Infectious Diseases
Signs and symptoms of 3 infectious diseases (A/C 3.1)
There are several signs and symptoms with the help of which an individual can detect the
existence of a certain infection within the body of organism. In this relation, three of the most
common and widely known infectious diseases along with their signs and symptoms are
discussed as follows:-
Infectious disease Signs and symptoms
Pneumonia  Cough that may cause greenish, yellow or even bloody mucus
 Fever, sweat and shaking chills
 Short breath
 Rapid, shallow breathing
 Sharp chest pain getting worsened with deep breathing or
cough (Storr and et. al., 2017)
 Loss of appetite, fatigue
 Nausea & vomiting
Tuberculosis (TB)  Excessive cough lasting 3 weeks or more than that
 Chest pain
 Blood cough or sputum
 Low energy or fatigue
 Loss of appetite
 Fever
 Night sweat
 Loss of weight
 Rash turning into itchy, fluid blister which in future get
converted into scab
 Headache
 Fever
 Tiredness
 Loss of appetite
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CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it can be said that infection is a disorder or impact seen as a
result of invasion of human body by parasites, viruses, fungi, bacteria etc. Besides this, it has
been acknowledged that there are some effective ways through which the spread of infection can
be controlled or prevented. These ways are acknowledged to be leveraging hygiene practices,
capitalising on isolation or feeding on drugs.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Berríos-Torres, S. I. and et. al., 2017. Centers for disease control and prevention guideline for the
prevention of surgical site infection, 2017. JAMA surgery, 152(8), pp.784-791.
Friedman, N. D. and et. al., 2017. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae: a strategic roadmap
for infection control. infection control & hospital epidemiology, 38(5), pp.580-594.
Kuhar, D. and et. al., 2018. Healthcare infection control practices advisory committee
(HICPAC).
Lai, T. H. and et al., 2020. Stepping up infection control measures in ophthalmology during the
novel coronavirus outbreak: an experience from Hong Kong. Graefe's Archive for
Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, pp.1-7.
Liu, Y. and et. al., 2019. Nanotechnology-based antimicrobials and delivery systems for biofilm-
infection control. Chemical Society Reviews, 48(2), pp.428-446.
Storr, J. and et. al., 2017. Core components for effective infection prevention and control
programmes: new WHO evidence-based recommendations. Antimicrobial Resistance &
Infection Control, 6(1), p.6.
Suleyman, G. and Alangaden, G. J., 2016. Nosocomial fungal infections: epidemiology,
infection control, and prevention. Infectious disease clinics of North America, 30(4),
pp.1023-1052.
Walther, B., Tedin, K. and Lübke-Becker, A., 2017. Multidrug-resistant opportunistic pathogens
challenging veterinary infection control. Veterinary microbiology, 200, pp.71-78.
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