Hariram
Spread by skin or mucous membrane contact
Some infections are spread directly when skin or mucous membrane (the thin moist lining of many parts of the body such as the nose, mouth, throat and genitals) comes into contact with the skin or mucous membrane of another person. Infections are spread indirectly when skin or mucous membrane comes in contact with contaminated objects or surfaces.
Examples of diseases spread by skin or mucous membrane contact:
chickenpox
cold sores (herpes simplex infection)
conjunctivitis
hand, foot and mouth disease
head lice
molluscum contagiosum
ringworm
scabies
school sores (impetigo)
Staphylococcus aureus infection
warts.
Spread through blood or other body fluids
Some infections are spread when blood or other body fluids (for example for example, urine, saliva, breastmilk, semen and vaginal secretions) from an infected person comes into contact with:
the mucous membranes (the thin moist lining of many parts of the body such as the nose, mouth, throat and genitals), such as through kissing, breast-feeding or sexual contact or
the bloodstream of an uninfected person, such as through a needle stick injury or a break in the skin.
Examples of diseases spread through blood or other body fluids:
hepatitis B - blood, saliva, semen and vaginal fluids
hepatitis C - blood
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection - blood, semen and vaginal fluids, breastmilk
cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection - saliva, semen and vaginal fluids, urine, etc.
glandular fever - saliva
Other ways of describing how infectious diseases are spread
Spread through sexual contact (sexually transmitted infections)
These infections are most commonly transmitted by sexual contact. Sexual contact means:
genital to genital
oral to genital
genital to anal.
Examples of sexually transmitted infections:
Chlamydia infection
genital herpes
genital warts
gonorrhoea
hepatitis B
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
non-specific urethritis (NSU)
pubic lice (crabs)
syphilis
trichomoniasis.
Spread through food or water
These diseases result from ingestion of water or a wide variety of foods contaminated with disease-causing germs or their toxins. Often these infections are also spread by the faecal-oral route.
Examples of food or waterborne diseases:
botulism
Campylobacter infection
cholera
Cryptosporidium infection
haemolytic uraemic syndrome
Listeria infection
Salmonella infection
Shigella infection
typhoid and paratyphoid
Yersinia infection.
Spread from a mother to her unborn child
Some infections can be spread through the placenta from a mother to her unborn child or during delivery, or both.
Examples of diseases spread from a mother to child in this way:
chickenpox
congenital cytomegalovirus
hepatitis B
rubella.
Diseases where person-to-person spread occurs rarely, if ever
Some infectious diseases are almost never spread by contact with an infected person. These diseases are usually spread by contact with an environmental source such as animals, insects, water or soil.
Examples of diseases spread by contact with animals:
cat-scratch disease
hydatid disease
psittacosis
Q fever
rabies
toxoplasmosis.
Examples of diseases spread by insects, and in the examples listed below, specifically by mosquitoes:
Barmah Forest virus infection
dengue fever
malaria
Ross River virus infection.
Examples of diseases spread by contact with water or soil:
amoebic meningitis
legionella infection - Legionella pneumophila and Legionella longbeachae
tetanus.
