Disease Classification Flashcards
Epidemiology
How, where and why diseases occur and how they can be controlled
Infectious disease
A disease that is spread by pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi (e.g. malaria- most can be transmitted from one person to another)
Epidemic
An outbreak of a disease that attacks many people at the same time and spreads through a population in a restricted geographical area
Contagious
A class of infectious disease easily spread by direct or indirect contact between people (e.g. typhoid, plague (bacterial) and yellow fever, Ebola (viral))
Non-communicable
Non-infectious diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies (e.g. rickets), lifestyle (e.g. heart disease, some cancers) or genetic inheritance (e.g. heart disease)
Health
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Opportunistic disease
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Public health
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Endemic
Exists permanently in a geographical area or population (e.g. sleeping sickness in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa)
Non-contagious
Cannot be spread by contact between people
Communicable
Infectious diseases which spread from one person to another but do not require quarantine
Pathogen
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Mortality
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Morbidity
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Disease vector
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