Infectious Diseases

While medical science has significantly decreased the risk inherent in surgical procedures, there are still some looming potentialities that could undermine an otherwise flawless surgery. One of...

Nosocomial wounds are unrelated to a patient's primary condition---they are wounds the patient receives in a hospital, as a result of nosocomial infections, also called health care-associated...

Tuberculosis, or TB, is a bacterial infection that usually affects the lungs, but it can also be present in other parts of the body, such as the kidneys, spine or brain. It is easily treated,...

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that often starts in the lungs and spreads to other parts of the body, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of...

Have you been reading all there is on the Swine Flu Virus (H1N1)? One of the things we are never sure of is when to go to the Emergency Room. We have followed instructions, taken medication and...

Mycoplasma pneumonia is a milder form of pneumonia that has its own characteristic symptoms. As long as these symptoms are not ignored and the patient receives prompt medical attention, most...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are the cause of a MRSA infection. This is a common, antibiotic resistant infection in the hospital setting, and great strides have been made...

MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a type of staph bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus lives on the skin and in nasal passages of about one out of three people worldwide,...

MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterial infection that is resistant to most commonly used antibiotics. Because of the increase in highly contagious cases of MRSA...

Nosocomial infections are secondary infections that are contracted as a result of medical treatment. They are also known as "hospital acquired infections" and affect 5% of patients, or 2 million...

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 13,000 new cases of active tuberculosis were diagnosed in 2008. While this makes the disease fairly rare, the number of people...

When an infection occurs in the protective lining of the abdomen, often as a result of a ruptured or infected organ, severe pain, accompanied by a fever and vomiting signal the onset of...

There are four categories of parasites according to the part of the body they infect: blood, digestive system, organs and sinus cavities. Blood parasites may be further divided into protozoa and...

The term plague may be used generically to refer to an epidemic of any disease. In a medical context, however, it refers specifically to infections by Yersinia pestis, a rod-shaped bacterium. This...

Of all the diseases running rampant throughout the world, hemorrhagic fevers are the most likely to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. They are hideously painful, frightening and have...

German measles, also known as Rubella, is generally a minor illness that passes without treatment in a few days. However, there are things you can do to alleviate discomfort in the patient and...

Meningitis is the inflammation of the protective membrane around the central nervous system, including the brain and spine. It can be caused by many things, but most commonly it is a result of a...

Meningitis is a serious illness that demands immediate medical attention. It has many causes, but some are fatal, so do not hesitate bringing in a patient for treatment.

Doctors must diagnose a meningitis patient aggressively. Meningitis has many causes and every cause calls for a different set of treatments. Time is of the essence and a diagnosis is the first...

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common minor illness. For the most part, it affects infants and small children, but adults have been known to contract the infection as well.

Rubella, also known as German measles, is a minor illness usually found in children. These days, most people are vaccinated during childhood, but cases still occur.