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Contagious Diseases

Diseases listed here can be caught from other people either through the air or from surfaces other people have touched from a doorknob to the food your eat. Not included here are sexually transmitted diseases.
Community Acquired MRSA- MRSA Definition
Community acquired MRSA is a type of MRSA infection that can be caught in every day situations where many people are in close contact with each other, like at the gym, while playing sports or during sexual contact.
Superbugs-Drug Resistant Superbugs
Superbugs are infectious diseases that are difficult to treat, usually because the superbugs are resistant to treatment with known drugs or have no known treatment.
MRSA Definition-Definition of MRSA
MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is most often a hospital-acquired infection that is difficult to treat because MRSA is resistant to several kinds of antibiotics.
Quarantineable Diseases
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has the authority to detain anyone who has a quarantinable disease as defined by Executive Order.
MRSA - Drug Resistant Superbugs
Dr. Neil Fishman talks about MRSA and drug resistant superbugs in this interview. Learn about MRSA, how you can get MRSA and how to prevent MRSA.
MRSA Infection
MRSA is an infection caused by the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. While in previous years staph infections were successfully treated with antibiotics, MRSA has become a "superbug" resistant to many different kinds of antibiotics.
Ebola Virus
Ebola hemorrhagic fever spreads easily from person to person and kills approximately 50 to 90 percent of all people infected. The disease is endemic in Africa, but could also be spread throughout the world by terrorists.
Bacterial Meningitis-Meningitis Symptoms
Bacterial meningitis is the most serious form of meningitis that can cause death, the loss of a limb, hearing damage and brain damage. The most common type is meningococcal meningitis.
Bacterial Meningitis Prevention for College Students
College students are at higher risk of getting meningitis than the average population. Find out what causes bacterial meningitis and how to prevent meningitis.
Bacterial Meningitis Prevention for ChildrenOve 2 Years Old and Adults
Bacterial meningitis in children 2 years old and older and adults is most commonly caused by just a few different kinds of bacteria; meningitis prevention lies in getting meningitis vaccines and avoiding the bugs that cause meningitis.
Bacterial Meningitis Prevention in Babies and Toddlers
Bacterial meningitis is prevented by meningitis vaccines, good hygiene, avoiding contaminated food and water, and preventive treatment when prescribed by a doctor.
Bacterial Meningitis Prevention
Infants under 2 months old, and people with weakened immune systems, get bacterial meningitis from causes that are different than those that cause bacterial meningitis in older babies and adults.
Causes of Bacterial Meningitis
The causes of bacterial meningitis can be the meningococcal meningitis bacteria, Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae, streptococcus pnuemoniae, or other bacteria causing meningitis. Viral meningitis is caused by different kinds of viruses, but does not usually cause a severe disease.
Bacterial Meningitis Causes, Risk Factors and Prevention
Meningococcal meningitis, or bacterial meningitis, is contagious, but certain groups of people are more susceptible than others to becoming sick from the meningococcal meningitis bacteria.
Definition of Meningococcal Meningitis
Meningococcal meningitis is bacterial meningitis caused by the meningococcal bacteria, Neisseria meningiditis.
Salmonella 101
Salmonella is a common cause of what is usually called food poisoning. Salmonella is contagious in the sense that it can be spread from someone infected with it, usually by passing the bacteria to food which is then eaten.
Defintion of Meningitis
The definition of meningitis is the inflammation of the meninges, the thin lining of the brain and spinal cord.
Typhoid Fever 101
Find out all about typhoid fever, if you need the vaccine against typhoid fever and finally learn who was Typhoid Mary.
HIV/AIDS Overview
Find out more about HIV/AIDS from About.com's Guide to Sexually Transmitted Diseases. The HIV/AIDS crisis is considered to be a worldwide epidemic.
Plague- Bubonic Plague
Plague or bubonic plague still exists but treatment with antibiotics now makes the disease a far cry from the black death plague meant hundreds of years ago.
What Is Mononucleosis? What Causes Mono?
Infectious mononucleosis is a disease caused by a type of common herpes virus called the Epstein-Barr Virus, EBV. Usually people become infected as small children and do not get very sick, but if they are not exposed until teenagers or young adults, the symptoms can be more severe.
Pandemic
The definition of a pandemic simply means widespread, or general. Today pandemic is often couple with flu, as in pandemic flu. A pandemic flu is a new disease that would affect people around the world.
Influenza
Influenza is a virus commonly called the flu. The word flu is often misused to describe the common cold. The influenza virus has two types of viruses, A and B. Influenza A is further subtyped according to the type of hemagglutinin (H or HA) and neuraminidase (N or NA) surface proteins it shows on the outside of the virus.
Influenza- Flu 101
Let About.com's Guide to Cold and Flu tell you all about influenza, also known as the seasonal flu. The flu is one of the world's most infectious diseases and kills thousands of people each year.
Acinetobacter baumannii
Acinetobacter baumannii is an intrinisically antibiotic resistant bacteria that can cause nosocomial infections. A.baumannii is more common among military personnel than civilians.
All About SARS
SARS is a very contagious respiratory disease that spread around the world in 2003.
Bird Flu Need to Know
Bird flu has been known to spread from human to human only on a few occasions. Avian flu or bird flu is caused by an avian influenza virus and can cause the lungs to fill up with fluid making it difficult to breathe.
All About Norovirus
Norovirus is spread by people who are ill who contaminate food and surfaces touched by other people.
XDR Tuberculosis
XDR tuberculosis stands for extensively drug resistant and like its name, XDR TB cannot be effectively treated with any drugs available today.

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