Communicable Diseases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Communicable Diseases - Essay Example â€Å"Infectious diseases† have affected man at every stage of his evolution, but it is only recently that he has begun to understand that these diseases are not the result of â€Å"invisible† enemies, but rather microscopic ones. Communicable diseases are a group of infectious diseases â€Å"that are capable of being spread directly (through contact with bodily secretions) or indirectly (through contact with inanimate objects) transmitted from person to person† (Ilyas, p. 520, 2007). Common diseases such as influenza, measles, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and AIDS come under this heading. Their prevalence in a community however depends on the degree of defensive power of the body against that infectious agent. Communicable diseases can be termed epidemic â€Å"if the number of susceptible individuals is very large in a community and the disease is likely to spread rapidly, or if it occurs for the first time in an area where it was not previously present† (Ilyas, p520, 2007). However, â€Å"if the immune and susceptible individuals are equal in a community, the disease continues to smolder and is always present in that community, it is said to prevail in an endemic formâ⠂¬  (Ilyas, p520, 2007). A pandemic form is one in which â€Å"the susceptibility of the whole world or a country is increased for a particular organism† (Ilyas, p520, 2007). Some communicable diseases have been known for centuries. For example, Tuberculosis has been mentioned in literature by the name of â€Å"phthisis† or â€Å"dried up† by Hippocrates around 460 B.C. (Hippocrates, n.d.). Some diseases however, have only recently surfaced, but in short time have led to major global health problems. For example, the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first discovered in 1981 in the US, when five homosexual men with a special type of pneumonia were tested