What are infectious diseases?

author
6 minutes, 31 seconds Read

They are manifestations of your body against infection by a microorganism. Some are contagious, i.e. that contract by contact with infected people. They may have a high or low rate of infection. Others are not contagious, meaning they are contracted in the environment where we live.

In general symptoms such as fever, swelling and rashes on your skin. They can be lethal if not treated with care or time. Diseases like chicken pox and meningitis can be treated at home with some basic care. However, if the fever is maintained or the temperature is too high you will need to visit the doctor immediately.

These diseases generated in the skin grains, dryness, swelling, itching, redness and burning. It is also possible that the skin is flaking. These are normal skin conditions due to the existence of infection. Then learn more about the most common infectious diseases such as chickenpox, meningitis, measles, scarlet fever and rubella.

Infectious diseases
Image Source: Google Image

Chickenpox

This is one of the most common in children but benign infectious diseases. It is unusual in adults but when sufferers, their effects can be more severe. It is considered that people suffer only once in his life, with some exceptions.

This condition is caused by the varicella zoster virus. This virus is usually present in the nervous tissues of the human body but without causing infection. When not active in childhood, adulthood does in generating herpes.

Rashes due to chickenpox usually start in the armpits, ears and chest. In many cases they are accompanied by mild fever. In a few days they can spread to the rest of the skin, arms and legs. These eruptions are presented as groups of papules or lesions measuring less than one centimeter in diameter. These lesions become vesicles usually pink.

When infection decreases after about a week, these eruptions producing dry scab and then disappears.

How to Treat Chicken Pox?

  • Consult the appropriate medical treatment, especially in the case of an adult.
  • I suggest plenty of rest is the best way to allow your body to overcome the infection.
  • Use of acetaminophen-based drugs helps control fever.
  • Use calamine lotion or cool baths of natural herbs that will help to relieve itching and burning.
  • Avoid scratching the eruptions. This can generate additional skin infections and scarring for life.
  • There is no vaccine for this virus. The vaccine allows the disease does not create complications when present. In most countries it is applied in children.

Meningitis

Meningitis, as its name implies, involves inflammation of the meninges. The meninges are thin membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. This inflammation is frequently caused by a bacterium called meningococcus. The bacteria usually enter the body through the nose or mouth.

Meningitis is considered one of the greatest risks of infectious diseases. It can also be caused by other bacteria, fungi or drugs. Although it occurs sporadically, these are potentially lethal cases.

Anyone can get this disease, mostly children and adolescents. The main symptoms are fever, drowsiness, headache, neck stiffness, intolerance to certain sounds or direct light in the eyes. This infection presents skin rash when it comes to a particular form of meningitis known as meningeal. These eruptions are usually purple that pressing left unmitigated.

You may also like to read another article on Srewang: Discover your health through nail color

This disease gets worse quickly. To stop it is necessary to make a hard and fast treatment to avoid severe consequences and death. When treatments begin later, the patient may be present long-term consequences such as cognitive impairment, deafness, hydrocephalus and epilepsy.

How to treat meningitis?

  • You need to visit the doctor or go to the emergency room if you have symptoms of this disease.
  • A specialist or expert doctor will prescribe the appropriate treatment for the patient.
  • Most treatments include special care and high doses of antibiotics or antivirals, depending on the cause of meningitis.
  • There are several vaccines to prevent these infectious diseases in different forms or presentations. In most cases they are special to prevent them from childhood.

Measles

Measles is an infectious disease that affects children. It occurs due to a virus, usually called paramyxovirus. In young people and adults it can occur when they did not have it in childhood and were not immunized.

Symptoms of infection include fever, malaise and weakness of the body. In some cases it may occur conjunctivitis, swollen lymph nodes or bronchitis. This disease is highly contagious, mainly through breathing. A person who does not have immunity has a 90% chance of contracting measles when in contact with an affected.

Measles may be complicated if inflammation in the lungs and brain occurs. In these cases you needed medical care and follow proper treatment. It manifests with pink skin rash, mainly on the head, neck and chest. These small blemishes can spread throughout the body within days.

Measles can be prevented by vaccine. In most countries children are vaccinated at 18 months of birth and receive a booster at 5 years.

How to treat measles?

  • As with chickenpox, I suggest plenty of rest is the best way to allow your body to overcome the infection.
  • Consume plenty of fluids to hydrate your body and allow free from infection.
  • You can take acetaminophen-based drugs to help you control the fever.
  • If the disease is complicated and / or encephalitis occurs should seek medical attention.
  • The most commonly used is the MMR vaccine that provides immunity for SPR three infectious diseases: measles, mumps and rubella.

Scarlet fever

Scarlet fever is one of the infectious diseases that are caused by infection through the airways. Also it is known as scarlet fever. This infection is caused by streptococcus bacteria and is more common in children than in adults. Thanks to medical advances, today it is less severe when it occurs.

The main symptom of scarlet fever is skin rashes that initially present in the neck and face. Then they expanded to the whole body, especially on chest and back. They not generally occur around the mouth. The eruptions appear as small red spots that generate itching. This condition usually lasts a week. When the infection is healing may present flaking skin.

You may also like to read another article on Srewang: Liver cysts: Causes and Treatment

Other symptoms of scarlet fever are fever, swollen glands in the neck and sore throat. Children may have body aches, chills and loss of appetite.

How to Treat Scarlet Fever?

  • It requires immediate medical diagnosis if you suspect you have this infection.
  • The most effective treatment is based on antibiotics. Penicillin generally used.
  • I suggest that you follow a treatment supervised by a specialist.

Rubella

Rubella is a viral disease. It occurs with less frequency and severity as other childhood infectious diseases. In the only case where it can be complicated and requires more care it is when it occurs in a woman in her early pregnancy. If not treated carefully, the fetus could lead to deformities or die. It is important that women check that is immune to this disease before becoming pregnant.

The symptoms of rubella are a rash, mild fever, swollen glands and lymph nodes behind the neck. Adults may have pain in the joints. The rash usually starting pink spots on the face, and then spread to the chest and extremities. These conditions disappear quickly.

How to Treat Rubella?

  • There is no specific treatment for rubella. The important thing is to control symptoms.
  • As with chickenpox and measles, rest is key.
  • To lessen the discomfort of symptoms you can take acetaminophen-based drugs.
  • The MMR vaccine provides immunity against this viral infection. It is necessary for every woman who plans to become pregnant get vaccinated.

There infections milder skin caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses. These skin conditions also have skin rashes.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.