Introduction of Communicable Diseases

Communicable disease is an illness caused by an infectious agent or its toxic products that are transmitted directly or indirectly to a well person through an agency, and a vector or an inanimate object.

Definition of Terms:
Contagious Disease – term given to a disease that is easily transmitted from one person to another through direct or indirect means.
Infectious Disease – transmitted not only by ordinary contact but requires direct inoculation of the organism through a break on the skin or mucous membrane.
- all contagious diseases are infectious.

Infection – invasion and multiplication of microorganisms on the tissues of the host resulting to signs and symptoms as well as immunologic response.

What a nurse must know about Communicable Diseases?

1. The nature of the specific microorganism and its capacity for survival both within and outside the body.
2. The most effective method of destruction of the specific organism.
3. How the organism invades the host and its route of escape from the body.
4. The incubation period, prodromata, and the length of communicability.
5. How a specific drug alters the clinical signs and the infectious course of the disease.
6. The most recent methods and concepts of prophylaxis for communicable diseases.
7. The rationale and control measures, including isolation techniques.