How infectious diseases spread through communities

Infectious diseases are illnesses resulting from infections, which can be caused by many kinds of pathogens, especially bacteria and viruses, and some infections can spread between people. The lessons answer how infections spread through communities and help readers understand the ways transmission can be limited. They consider how everyday contact, shared environments, and travel shape the spread of infection.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 1 hr 4 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   Infectious Mononucleosis - Harvard Health · Harvard Health Blog · 4 min read

   Epstein-Barr virus commonly is transmitted during kissing, and sneezes and coughs also can transmit the virus. Mononucleosis has been nicknamed the "kissing disease."

2. Read
   

   infectious diseases · Wikipedia · 53 min read

   For infectious diseases, frequent hand washing remains the most important defense against the spread of unwanted organisms. Hand washing, gowns, and face masks can help prevent infections from passing from one person to another. International air travel can carry infectious diseases to distant lands, or home to families, before infected people show symptoms.

3. Watch
   

   Anthony Fauci on the History of Infectious Disease | Big Think · YouTube · 7 min watch

   Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, discusses past, present and future battles against disease. He describes how infectious diseases have shaped societies and how understanding disease can help protect people.

4. Book
   

   The Ghost Map · Bookshop.org

   The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson follows a physician and a local curate as they act during a cholera outbreak and solve a medical riddle in a rapidly expanding city lacking garbage removal, clean water, and sewers.

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