The National Academies

The National Academies: What You Need To Know About Infectious Disease

What You Need To Know About Infectious Disease

New infectious diseases are emerging and old ones are appearing in new places around the globe. What’s behind this trend? And to what extent has human behavior amplified the problem? The National Academies, advisers to the nation in science, engineering, and medicine, provide the information you need to understand this complex topic.

Infection

Microbes are all around us. Most don’t do any harm, and many are beneficial, but what about the few that cause infection? Learn the basics.

Threats

Certain aspects of disease are a particular threat to us today. What are some of the things we're most concerned about in the United States?

Challenges

National borders do little to block the path of infectious disease. Learn how our modern way of life contributes to the emergence and spread of diseases.

Prevention

What do we need to do—as individuals and as a society—to stave off the threat of emerging infectious disease?

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What do you know about infectious disease?

Which of the following is an effective way to protect yourself against infectious disease?

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    All of the above can help prevent infectious disease. Other behaviors, such as exercising caution around wild and unfamiliar domestic animals, avoiding insect bites, practicing safe sex, and being vigilant about disease threats while traveling abroad, can also reduce the risk of infection.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    All of the above can help prevent infectious disease. Other behaviors, such as exercising caution around wild and unfamiliar domestic animals, avoiding insect bites, practicing safe sex, and being vigilant about disease threats while traveling abroad, can also reduce the risk of infection.

  • Sorry, that’s incorrect.

    All of the above can help prevent infectious disease. Other behaviors, such as exercising caution around wild and unfamiliar domestic animals, avoiding insect bites, practicing safe sex, and being vigilant about disease threats while traveling abroad, can also reduce the risk of infection.

  • Correct!

    All of the above can help prevent infectious disease. Other behaviors, such as exercising caution around wild and unfamiliar domestic animals, avoiding insect bites, practicing safe sex, and being vigilant about disease threats while traveling abroad, can also reduce the risk of infection.

Infectious Disease Defined

Egg Cell

The female gamete, or sex cell, which carries the hereditary material of the female parent and unites with the male sperm cell during sexual reproduction.

View our full glossary

Disease Watchlist

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, or TB, is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. Although TB usually settles in the lungs, it can affect other parts of the body, including the kidney, spine, and brain. 

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