Transmission (medicine)
Transmission (medicine)
Transmission (trænsˈmɪʃən) in the context of medicine refers to the passing of a pathogen causing communicable disease from an infected host individual or group to a particular individual or group, regardless of whether the other individual was previously infected. The term strictly refers to the transmission of microorganisms directly from one individual to another by one or several means.
Etymology
The term "transmission" comes from the Latin word "transmissio" which means "sending over or across, passage". In the medical context, it was first used in the 1890s to describe the spread of diseases.
Types of Transmission
There are several types of transmission in medicine, including:
- Direct contact transmission: This occurs when there is physical contact between an infected person and a susceptible person.
- Indirect contact transmission: This occurs when there is no direct human-to-human contact. Contact occurs from a reservoir to contaminated surfaces or objects, or to vectors such as mosquitoes.
- Airborne transmission: This occurs when bacteria or viruses travel on dust particles or on small respiratory droplets that may be aerosolized when an infected person sneezes, coughs, laughs, or talks.
- Fecal-oral transmission: This occurs when bacteria or viruses in feces are transmitted to another person's mouth. This can occur when people do not wash their hands.
- Sexual transmission: This occurs when bacteria, viruses or parasites are spread through sexual contact.
Related Terms
- Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites that are not normally present within the body.
- Pathogen: A bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease.
- Disease: A particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not due to any immediate external injury.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Transmission (medicine)
- Wikipedia's article - Transmission (medicine)
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