health is defined as a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and not the mere absence of disease.
The term disease refers to a disturbance in the normal functioning of the body and is used interchangeably with ‘illness’.
If the organism can cause infection, it is an infectious agent.
The pathogen: the organism causing the infection .
The host: the infected person or animal ‘carrying’ the pathogen .
The exit: the method the pathogen uses to leave the body of the host.
Transmission: how the pathogen is transferred from host to susceptible person or animal, which can include developmental stages in the environment, in intermediate hosts, or in vectors.
Diseases caused by pathogens, or the toxins they produce, are communicable or infectious diseases .
- AN EPIDEMIC is a disease that affects a large number of people within a community, population, or region.
- A PANDEMIC is an epidemic that’s spread over multiple countries or continents.
- ENDEMIC is something that belongs to a particular people or country.
- constant presence in a specific location. Malaria is endemic to parts of Africa.
- example, when COVID-19 was limited to Wuhan, China, it was an epidemic. The geographical spread turned it into a pandemic.
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