Transmission

Transmission (medicine) is 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 more of the following means: airborne, direct or indirect contact, fecal-oral, sexual, through blood, breast milk, or other body fluids, and through the placenta.

Types of Transmission

There are two types of transmission: Vertical transmission and Horizontal transmission.

Vertical Transmission

Vertical transmission refers to when a pathogen is transmitted from mother to child during childbirth or pregnancy. This can occur when the mother has a pre-existing disease or becomes infected during pregnancy.

Horizontal Transmission

Horizontal transmission refers to when a pathogen is transmitted from one individual to another within the same generation. This can occur through direct physical contact, through contact with a contaminated surface, or through the air.

Methods of Transmission

There are several methods of transmission, including:

• Airborne transmission: This occurs when bacteria or viruses travel on dust particles or on small respiratory droplets that may be aerosolized when an infected individual coughs, sneezes, laughs, or talks.
• Direct contact transmission: This occurs when there is physical contact between an infected person and a susceptible person, and the microorganism is physically transferred between them.
• 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, flies, mites, fleas, ticks, rodents or dogs.
• Fecal-oral transmission: This occurs when pathogens in fecal particles pass from one host to another.

Prevention

Prevention of transmission is a key component of infection control. Measures include hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, vaccination, and antimicrobial stewardship.

See Also

• Epidemiology
• Infection control
• Pathogen

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