Global patterns of disease 11.1

Question 1

What are the different classifications of disease?

Answer 1

Infectious, communicable, contagious, epidemic, endemic and pandemic
noon-infectious, non-communicable and non-contagious

Question 2

What are infectious diseases?

Answer 2

Diseases spread by pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. Most can be transmitted from one person to another
Infectious diseases are illnesses caused by germs (such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi) that enter the body, multiply, and can cause an infection. Some infectious diseases are contagious (or communicable), meaning they are capable of spreading from one person to another
They include bacterial infections such as typhoid and plague and viral diseases like yellow fever and Ebola

Question 3

What are communicable diseases?

Answer 3

Infectious diseases which spread from host to host, but which do not require quarantine
Communicable diseases are illnesses caused by viruses or bacteria that people spread to one another through contact with contaminated surfaces, bodily fluids, blood products, insect bites, or through the air
An example is malaria

Question 4

What are contagious diseases?

Answer 4

A communicable disease that can spread rapidly from person to person through direct contact (touching a person who has the infection), indirect contact (touching a contaminated object), or droplet contact (inhaling droplets made when a person who has the infection coughs, sneezes, or talks).

Question 5

What are zoonotic diseases?

Answer 5

Infectious diseases such as rabies and plague which are transmitted from animals to humans. Transmission is common; one estimate suggests that around 60% of infectious diseases are spread from animals

Question 6

What are non-infectious diseases?

Answer 6

They are not communicable. They have a variety of causes including nutritional deficiencies e.g. rickets, lifestyle e.g. diabetes, and genetic inheritance e.g heart disease
Non-infectious diseases are the main cause of death in developed countries. For example cardiovascular disease and cancer account for nearly two-thirds of all premature deaths in the UK

Question 7

Compare disease-related causes of death in an Ac and in an LIDC

Answer 7

Malawi has a HDI of 0.512. Top two disease related deaths are infectious e.g. HIV/AIDS and Influenza and pneumonia.
UK has a HDI of 0.931 and top two disease-related deaths are Coronary heart disease and stroke.

Question 8

What are endemic diseases?

Answer 8

Endemic diseases exist permanently in a geographical area or population group. For example sleeping sickness, confined to rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa.

Question 9

What is an epidemic?

Answer 9

An outbreak of a disease that attacks many people at the same time and spreads through a population in a restricted geographical area.
E.g. an outbreak of Ebola disease in West Africa which quickly led to an epidemic in 2014

Question 10

What is a pandemic?

Answer 10

An epidemic that has spread worldwide.
Examples are COVID-19 or the Black Death which killed an estimated 75-200 million people

Question 11

What is a degenerative disease?

Answer 11

A disease in which the function or structure of the affected tissues or organs changes for the worse over time. Osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer disease are examples.

Question 12

How prevalent are degenerative diseases?

Answer 12

Currently over 60% of deaths worldwide are due to degenerative diseases e.g. cardiovascular disease.

Question 13

Describe the prevalence of non-communicable diseases

Answer 13

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 74% of all deaths globally. Each year, more than 15 million people die from a NCD between the ages of 30 and 69 years; 85% of these “premature” deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths, or 17.9 million people annually, followed by cancers (9.3 million), respiratory diseases (4.1 million), and diabetes (1.5 million). These four groups of diseases account for over 80% of all premature NCD deaths

Question 14

Describe the global distribution of malaria

Answer 14

Malaria is infectious but non-contagious.
The WHO African Region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden.
In 2022, the Region was home to 94% of malaria cases (233 million) and 95% (580 000) of malaria deaths.
Children under 5 accounted for about 80% of all malaria deaths in the Region

Question 15

Describe the global distribution of HIV/AIDS

Answer 15

HIV/AIDS is an infectious and contagious disease. It is spread by human bodily fluids.
Certain regions of the globe are disproportionately affected by HIV. In 2022, there were 20.8 million people with HIV in eastern and southern Africa, 4.8 million in western and central Africa, 6.5 million in Asia and the Pacific, and 2.3 million in Western and Central Europe and North America

Question 16

Describe the prevalence of HIV/AIDS

Answer 16

There were approximately 39 million people across the globe with HIV in 2022. Of these, 37.5 million were adults, and 1.5 million were children (<15 years old). In addition, 53% were women and girls.

Question 17

Describe the prevalence of malaria

Answer 17

Globally in 2022, there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases and 608 000 malaria deaths in 85 countries.

Question 18

Describe the global distribution of Tubercolosis

Answer 18

TB occurs in every part of the world. In 2022, the largest number of new TB cases occurred in WHO’s South-East Asian Region (46%), followed by the African Region (23%) and the Western Pacific (18%)
It is an infectious and highly contagious disease associated with poverty and overcrowded living conditions

Question 19

Describe the global prevalence of tubercolosis

Answer 19

US$ 13 billion is needed annually for TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care to achieve the global target agreed at the 2018 UN high level-meeting on TB.
Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In 2022, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, including 5.8 million men, 3.5 million women and 1.3 million children. TB is present in all countries and age groups. TB is curable and preventable.

Question 20

Describe the global distribution of diabetes

Answer 20

A non-communicable disease caused by a deficiency of insulin
Over 3 in 4 adults with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries.
In North America 1 in 7 adults (51mil) are living with diabetes

Question 21

Describe the global prevalence of diabetes

Answer 21

537 million adults (20-79 years) are living with diabetes - 1 in 10. This number is predicted to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045.
Diabetes is responsible for 6.7 million deaths in 2021 - 1 every 5 seconds
Most strongly concentrated in North America

Question 22

Describe the global distribution of Cardiovascular disease

Answer 22

Its incidence rises steeply with age. It is a major cause of mortality in ageing populations in high-income countries.
responsible for 17million deaths a year with 80% occurring in low and middle income countries

Question 23

What does the WHO do to prevent CVD?

Answer 23

In 2013, WHO Member States agreed on global mechanisms to reduce the avoidable NCD burden including a “Global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs 2013-2020”. This Plan aims to reduce the number of premature deaths from NCDs by 25% by 2025
Target 6: Reduce global prevalence of raised blood pressure by 25% between 2010 and 2025

Question 24

What does the WHO do to prevent malaria?

Answer 24

Since October 2021, WHO has recommended broad use of the malaria vaccine among children living in regions with moderate to high malaria transmission. The vaccine has been shown to significantly reduce malaria, and deadly severe malaria, among young children.
More than 2 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have already been vaccinated with the RTS,S malaria vaccine since 2019 through the WHO-coordinated Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP).