What You Need To Know About Infectious Disease
How Infection Works
Microbes occupy all of our body surfaces, including the skin, gut, and mucous membranes. Most don’t do us any harm—in fact, many help us survive. But there are certain bacteria, viruses, and other microbial life forms that can cause illness or even death. Here we learn the basics about microbes and the fascinating relationship we have with them.
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What do you know about infectious disease?
Which of the following is needed to help improve the public health situation in developing countries?
- More safe water supplies
- Better sewage treatment and disposal
- Improved food safety and vaccination programs
- All of the above
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Sorry, that’s incorrect.
All of the above are urgently needed in developing nations. A major barrier to achieving these improvements is the underlying weakness of health systems in resource-poor countries, including a shortage of health workers and a lack of disease surveillance programs.
-
Sorry, that’s incorrect.
All of the above are urgently needed in developing nations. A major barrier to achieving these improvements is the underlying weakness of health systems in resource-poor countries, including a shortage of health workers and a lack of disease surveillance programs.
-
Sorry, that’s incorrect.
All of the above are urgently needed in developing nations. A major barrier to achieving these improvements is the underlying weakness of health systems in resource-poor countries, including a shortage of health workers and a lack of disease surveillance programs.
-
Correct!
All of the above are urgently needed in developing nations. A major barrier to achieving these improvements is the underlying weakness of health systems in resource-poor countries, including a shortage of health workers and a lack of disease surveillance programs.
Infectious Disease Defined
- Immunization
The process of strengthening the body’s defense against a particular infectious agent, often accomplished by receiving a vaccine.
National Academies
Search the National Academies Press website by selecting one of these related terms.
Source Material
- Ending the War Metaphor: The Changing Agenda for Unraveling the Host-Microbe Relationship—Workshop Summary (2006)
- Microbial Evolution and Co-Adaptation: A Tribute to the Life and Scientific Legacies of Joshua Lederberg (2009)
- The Impact of Globalization on Infectious Disease Emergence and Control: Exploring the Consequences and Opportunities—Workshop Summary (2006)
- Infectious Disease Movement in a Borderless World—Workshop Summary (2010)
- Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response (2003)
