Infectious Diseases

The diseases caused by germs and which may infect any part of the body are called infectious diseases. They can be spread by any means where there is a germ. They are caused by pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, virus, parasites and fungi. Germs can be spread by direct or indirect contact. Vaccination, maintenance of proper hygiene and medicines help in the prevention of infection.

Bacterial & Fungal Infectious Diseases

These infectious organisms are known as pathogens. Examples of pathogens encompass bacteria, viruses, fungi, and prions. ... Contamination is the impact of a foreign organism in the frame. Varieties of contamination encompass bacterial, fungal, viral, protozoan, parasitic, and prion disease. Skin is a barrier this is supposed to defend you from bacteria, but microorganism can typically be observed dwelling at the pores and skin of wholesome individuals. A spoil inside the pores and skin can exchange this scenario from an innocent one to one wherein the character can turn out to be ill.

Global Trends in Emerging Infectious Diseases

An Infectious disease whose occurrence has increased in the past years or threatens to increase is termed as emerging. These diseases include new infections, previously unrecognized infections and old infections reappearing due to antimicrobial resistance, public health issues and unhygienic conditions.

HIV/AIDS

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a persistent, doubtlessly lifestyles-threatening condition due to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By damaging your immune machine, HIV interferes with your frame's ability to fight the organisms that purpose sickness. HIV is a sexually transmitted contamination (STI). The immune gadget allows the frame to combat off infections. Untreated HIV infects and kills CD4 cells, that is a type of immune cellular referred to as T cells. Over time, as HIV kills extra CD4 cells, the body is more likely to get various kinds of infections and cancers.

 Infectious Diseases Prevention, Control and Cure

Infectious diseases prevention and control is helpful to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases. Aseptic technique is normally applied to prevent the infections caused by different means. Sterilization is another process of killing microorganisms by the application of heat. Disinfection is the process of killing harmful microorganisms. Some infectious diseases can be prevented by avoiding direct contact with the contagious person. Infections can also be controlled and prevented by creating public awareness on various infectious diseases and their outbreaks. Infections can be cured by various antimicrobials.

Mechanism of Resistance

Mechanism of resistance towards antimicrobials by microorganisms includes the following mechanisms of enzymatic destruction, enzymatic modification, altered target and decreased uptake. Mechanism of resistance is due to the inactivation or modification of antibiotics, an alteration in the target site of the antibiotic that reduces its binding capacity, the modification of metabolic pathways to circumvent the antibiotic effect and the reduced intracellular antibiotic accumulation by decreasing permeability and/ or increasing active efflux of the antibiotic.

 Antimicrobial/ Antibiotic/ Antibacterial Resistance

Antimicrobial/ antibiotic/ antibacterial resistance is the ability of microorganisms to resist the effects of drugs that means diseases causing germs do not get killed and their growth is not stopped.  Antibiotic resistant infections are of greater risk which cannot be avoided completely. Infections with resistant organisms are difficult to treat requiring costly and sometimes toxic alternatives.

Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases

Medical diagnosis is the process of determining which disease or condition explains a person's symptoms and signs. Laboratory tests may identify organisms directly (e.g., visually, using a microscope growing the organism in culture) or indirectly (e.g., identifying antibodies to the organism). General types of tests include microscopy, culture and immunologic tests (agglutination tests such as latex agglutination, enzyme immunoassays, western blot, precipitation tests and complement fixation tests) and nucleic acid/ non nucleic acid based identification methods. Sub types of diagnoses include clinical, laboratory, radiology, principal and admitting diagnosis. Advanced methods have been implemented to diagnose the infection in any part of the body. Examples include biomarkers/ elisa test/ chest x ray/ skin biopsy/ tympanometry and tympanocentesis.

Treatment for Infectious Diseases

Treatment of viral infections such as HIV involves patient care and moral support including antiretroviral therapy. Bacterial infections can be treated by administering antibiotics to the patients. Yeast infections can be primarily treated by sterilisation methods. Parasitic infections can be treated by antiparasitic drugs. Diseases such as cancer can be treated by chemotherapy. Recent techniques have proved that there is no disease that cannot be treated.

Vaccines and Vaccination

Vaccines are the products that are able to produce immunity from a disease and can be administered through needle injections, by mouth and by aerosol. Vaccination is the injection of a killed or weakened organism that produces immunity in the body against that organism.

Immunology of Infections

Immunology of infections means the battle between pathogens and the host immune defences. Immunology is the branch of science concerned with the various aspects related to immune system, innate and acquired immunity. Immunology also deals with laboratory techniques involving the interaction of antigens with specific antibodies.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases/ Sexually Transmitted Infections

 Sexually transmitted diseases/ sexually transmitted infections are the infectious diseases which are transmitted through sexual contact with an infected individual and also transmitted during vaginal or other types of sexual intercourse including oral and anal sex.

Pediatric Infectious Diseases/ Childhood Infectious Diseases

Pediatric infectious diseases/ childhood infectious diseases are the infectious diseases which are caused in children of different age groups. Pediatric infectious diseases specialist’s takes care of the infections occurring in children and the treatment methods vary for children from adults.

 Neuro Infectious Diseases

Neuro infectious diseases are the infectious diseases which are observed in the nervous system. Viral and immune mediated disorders of the nervous system are among the most challenging neurological disorders. The most common neuro immune disorder is multiple sclerosis and hiv is the most common viral infection of the nervous system.

Ebola and Zika Viral Infections

Ebola viral infection is caused by virus transmitted through body fluids and through air. It occurs rarely but it is very deadly which results in death and outbreak. Ebola virus disease symptoms are very severe which appears in 2-3 days. Ebola primary symptoms include fever, sore throat, muscular pain and headaches then followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, decreased function of the liver and kidneys then loss of blood internally and externally finally leading to low blood pressure and fluid loss resulting in death.  Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by aedes mosquitoes. People with zika virus disease can have symptoms including mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain and malaise or headache.

 Microbial Pathogenesis and Virulence

Microbial pathogenesis is the study of the molecular mechanisms used by microorganisms to cause disease in humans and animals. By understanding how pathogens cause disease helps in the development of new therapeutic approaches. Virulence is the measure of the pathogenicity of an organism. The degree of virulence is related directly to the ability of the organism to cause infection despite host resistance mechanisms, it is affected by numerous variables such as the number of infecting bacteria, route of entry into the body, specific and nonspecific host defence mechanisms and virulence factors of the bacterium.

 Surgical Site Infections

Surgical site infections are the infections which may occur within 30 days after the operation and are observed in the parts of skin and subcutaneous tissue of the incision.

 Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis which spread through the lymph nodes and blood stream to any organ in your body. It is most commonly found in the lungs which attack the lungs and it can also attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine and brain.

Hepatitis

Hepatitis is caused by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. Hepatitis may occur with limited or no symptoms but often leads to jaundice, poor appetite and malaise. Hepatitis is acute when it lasts less than six months and chronic when it persists longer.

 Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito borne infectious disease affecting humans and other animals caused by parasitic protozoans (a group of single celled microorganisms) belonging to the plasmodium type. Malaria symptoms typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting and headaches which can be observed in 10-15 after being bitten by mosquito. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, comaor and even death.

Animal Infectious Diseases/ Zoonosis

Animal infectious diseases/ zoonosis are important threat to human health since the emergence of human diseases is dominated by zoonotic pathogens. Infectious diseases affect livestock and also wild animals focusing on characterizing the conditions for the pathogen spread and maintenance in the host population.

Infectious Diseases Therapeutic Market

The infectious diseases therapeutic market in US is estimated to grow at a rate of 3.37% between 2014- 2019. As per the records, 25% of deaths are mainly due to infectious diseases globally. Current market trend shows that North America has the more global market for infectious diseases therapeutics due to increasing incidence of infectious diseases and due to rise in aging population. Followed by North America highest global market is expected in Asia then followed by the Europe in the global infectious diseases therapeutics market. In Asia-Pacific region, China and India are expected to be the fastest growing infectious diseases therapeutics markets. The main reasons behind the highest global market of infectious diseases therapeutics market in the above countries is mainly due to large number of patients and due to increase in government funding. Some of the major companies playing a key role in the global infectious diseases therapeutics market are Merck & Co., Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceutical, Inc., Auritec Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Isis Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences.

Infectious Diseases Diagnostics Market

Market for infectious disease molecular diagnostics tests includes hospitals, blood banks, reference laboratories. North America has the highest global market for molecular diagnostics tests followed by Europe due to the market availability of the tests and high occurrence rate of various infectious diseases such as HPV, hepatitis and bacterial infections. Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East are expected to be the potential markets in the coming years. Major companies which play a key role in infectious disease molecular diagnostics tests market are Abbott Laboratories, Affymetrix, Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, bioMérieux, Cepheid, Inc., Hologic, Inc., Life Technologies, Myriad Genetics, Inc., Qiagen N.V. and others.

Worldwide deaths due to Infectious Diseases

Current Outbreak

The deadliest Ebola outbreak in recorded history is happening right now. The outbreak is unprecedented both in the number of cases and in its geographic scope. And so far, it doesn't look like it's slowing down.

The outbreak has now hit three countries: Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. And the virus — which starts off with flu-like symptoms and often ends with horrific hemorrhaging — has infected about 600 people and killed an estimated 367 since this winter, according to the numbers on June 26 from the World Health Organization.

Members associated with Infectious Diseases

1. Centre for Infectious Diseases and Policy includes 218 members
2. Global Public Health is having 106913 members
3. Members Pediatric Infectious Disease and Immunology has 3291 members
4. European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases has 3438 members
5. Infectious Diseases Society has 707 members

Worldwide Data

1. Worldwide members of Infectious are 3,683 members
2. European Congress in Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases is having 1,369 members
3. National Foundation for Infectious Diseases has 365 members
4. UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases has237 members
5. Cirion; bridging the gap in infectious diseases between science and society has55 members
6. HIV/AIDS & Infectious Diseases has 85 members
7. M.S. in Public Health Microbiology & Emerging Infectious Diseases has 44 members
8. Infectious Diseases and Public Health (IDPH) Research Group has 45 members
9. EUPHA Section Infectious diseases control has 38 members
10. Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases (CSGID) has30 members
11. LSHTM_Control of Infectious Diseases has 19 members

Societies and Associations related to Infectious Diseases

1. Healthcare Infection Society
2. European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases
3. European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
4. Infection Prevention Society
5. British Society for Immunology
6. British Infection Association
7. British Infection Association
8. European Society for pediatric Infectious diseases
9. Health care Infection Society
10. Worldwide societies for infectious diseases is about 150

Universities related to Infectious Diseases

1. University of Cambridge
2. Kings College of London
3. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
4. Imperial College London
5. UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health care
6. University of Sheffeild
7. Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
8. Columbia University
9. University of Maryland
10. Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control
11. Uppsala University
12. University of Gothenburg
13. University of Otago
14. Oslo University
15. University of Pittsburgh
16. Emory Health Sciences
17. Queensland University of Technology
18. University of Liverpool
19. University of Colorado Denver
20. Infectious Diseases Society of America
21.  Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents   University

Market Analysis of Companies

Funding towards Infectious Diseases

NIH funding for Infectious Diseases

References

1. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/basics/definition/con-   20033534
2. http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/32/5/684.full
3. http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763728799/28799_CH01_001_022.pdf
4. https://www.research.olemiss.edu/UMQuest/2007/Winter/ThePowerOfPartnerships.html
5. http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/32/5/684.full
6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56579/
7. http://www.nhshistory.net/voluntary_hospitals.html
8. http://www.vox.com/2014/6/26/5839394/the-deadliest-ebola-outbreak-in-history-is-happening-right-now
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospitals_in_England
10. http://www.healthcare.bayer.com/scripts/pages/en/company/products/index.php
11. http://kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-global-tuberculosis/
12. http://report.nih.gov/categorical_spending.aspx
13. Murray JM, Law MG, Gao Z, Kaldor JM. The impact of behavioural changes on the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C among injecting drug users. Int J Epidemiol 2003;32: 708–14.
14. Law MG, Dore GJ, Bath N et al. Modelling hepatitis C virus incidence, prevalence and long-term sequelae in Australia, 2001. Int J Epidemiol 2003;32:717–24.
15. Lederberg J, Shope RE (eds). Emerging Infections: Microbial Threats to Health in the United States. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1992.
16. Watts S. Epidemics and History: Disease, Power and Imperialism.New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press; 1997
17. Lee HSJ, ed. Dates in Infectious Diseases. Boca Raton, Fla: The Parthenon Publishing Group; 2000.
18. Fears JR. The plague under Marcus Aurelius and the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2004;18:65–77.
19. Antonine plague. Wikipedia Web page. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonine_Plague. Accessed Feb 22, 2006.
20. Porter R, ed. Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 1996.
21. Rosen G. A History of Public Health. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press; 1993.
22. McNeill WH. Plagues and Peoples.New York, NY: Doubleday; 1977.
23. Hirst LF. The Conquest of Plague. London, England: Oxford University Press; 1953.
24. Duncan SR, Scott S, Duncan CJ. Reappraisal of the historical selective pressures for the CCR5-Delta32 mutation. J Med Genet. 2005; 42:205–208.