Infectious Diseases

MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which is a strain of bacteria resistant to most antibiotics. Also called Staph, MRSA infections normally occur in health-related...

According to information from the Mayo Clinic, tuberculosis is a disease which occurs when the body's lungs are infected with a bacteria called mycobacterium tuberculosis. This is an airborne...

Lice are parasites that can live on people's bodies, clothes, heads and pubic areas. Because they are found on different parts of people bodies, the three types of lice--head, body and pubic...

Body lice are parasitic, wingless insects that survive off people's blood, often infecting people with bad hygiene and/or living in crowded conditions. Like head and pubic lice, they can be spread...

Tapeworms are a type of parasite that can cause life-threatening infection. Humans usually contract tapeworms by consuming undercooked meat that's contaminated with tapeworm eggs or larvae....

The cytomegalovirus is a common virus that normally displays no symptoms. The most common test to diagnose for the cytomegalovirus is a blood test that looks at the proteins in the blood. The Mayo...

Hookworm infections occur most commonly outside the U.S., but the small parasites do live in North America. People with advanced hookworms infections can experience serious gastrointestinal...

Septic shock is a condition that occurs when a bacterial infection overwhelms the body and results in extremely low blood pressure. It is most common among the elderly and the very young. It is...

Thousands of children and adults get lice every year. These parasites can wreak havoc on a household and make for a lot of work. You have to spend many hours getting rid of them not just from a...

Smallpox is an extremely contagious and frequently fatal disease. Caused by the Variola virus, there are two main forms of the disease, Variola major and Variola minor which present with similar...

Smallpox is an extremely virulent and often fatal disease caused by the Variola virus. Two primary forms of the disease, Variola major and Variola minor have similar signs and symptoms. Variola...

Candida is a naturally occurring yeast in the body. However, if there is an imbalance in the body, the bacteria can grow excessively and take control of microorganisms. Candida resides in the...

Staph infections can be minor and caused by naturally occurring staph bacteria that we all have minute amounts on our body. They can become severe if left untreated and can invade the body at very...

The epidemiological chain of infection describes the infection process and contains four basic components (see diagram in the References section): the pathogenic agent, [pathogenic] reservoir or...

Staphylococcus (or staph) is a group of bacteria primarily responsible for skin infections. Most everyone has some form of staph residing on their bodies, generally around the nose and mouth and,...

Viral and bacterial infections both cause illness, however, most virus and bacteria symptoms differ. Those differences help people identify the cause of their sickness and seek proper treatment....

Human parasites are organisms that, being unable to live on their own, depend on their host (people) for survival. These organisms can damage the body through their feeding and life cycle,...

Getting rid of lice is a more complicated task than it may appear to most people. There are three types of lice that infest the human body. They are head lice, body lice and pubic lice. Each type...

Thrush is caused by a yeast infection in your mouth. It is characterized by whiteness and itching. Oral thrush can occur when the natural organism balance in the body is compromised somehow....

The immune system protects the body from infections and diseases. When it is impaired or does not work properly, the body can get various infectious diseases of the immune system. Some of the ways...

Flu season arrives during the cold months and never really seems to go away. You can keep the flu at bay by taking a few noteworthy precautions. This way you can stay healthy all fall, winter and...

Infections are no joke to the body. It seems like no matter how thick your skin is or how germ phobic you may be, an infection can still find a way to get into your body and make a small sore feel...

When our body attempts to fight some sort of infection, we will often recognize that it is happening due to the fact that we will normally run a fever. Here, you will learn how to reduce a fever....