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Jul 22, 2019 · NIAMS focuses on arthritis, musculoskeletal & skin diseases. Find causes, treatment & prevention for over 50 health topics.
- Autoimmune Diseases
Types of Autoimmune Diseases. There are several types of...
- Back Pain
Types of Back Pain. Doctors and researchers describe the...
- Alopecia Areata
Types of Alopecia Areata. There are three main types of...
- Vitiligo
Normally, the immune system works throughout your body to...
- Psoriasis
Types of Psoriasis. There are different types of psoriasis,...
- Sports Injuries
Types. Sports injuries are broadly categorized into two...
- Ichthyosis
Some types of the disease, which are inherited and are not...
- Raynaud's Phenomenon
There are two types of Raynaud’s phenomenon—primary and...
- Marfan Syndrome
Overview of Marfan Syndrome. Marfan syndrome is a genetic...
- Autoimmune Diseases
Explore comprehensive guides on hundreds of common and rare diseases and conditions from the experts at Mayo Clinic.
- Overview
- What is a pathogen?
- Bacteria
- Pneumonia
- Viruses
- Common cold
- Protozoa
- Helminths
- Fungi
Overview of common diseases in humans and the pathogens that cause them.
This article offers a review of the following concepts:
•types of pathogens,
•details of common diseases caused by these pathogens (including symptoms and route of infection), and
Have you ever fell unwell after eating some dodgy food, or sharing space with someone who was coughing, or maybe mysteriously, right before school on a Monday?
When we "catch a bug", or "spread germs", we're actually talking about pathogens. A pathogen is an infectious organism that causes disease when it enters our bodies. They can be of many types, the most common of which are - bacteria, viruses, protozoa, worms, and fungi.
There are tens of thousands of known species of bacteria (and still counting!), some of which are harmless or even useful to us. However, pathogenic bacteria can cause serious illnesses in humans, a few of which are listed below.
Other common bacterial diseases include dysentery, diphtheria, and the plague.
[Isn't the plague a thing of the past??]
Viral infections can range from mild to very serious illnesses. In late 2019 , the SARS-CoV-2 virus brought the world to a stand-still with the COVID-19 pandemic. A few other common viral diseases are listed below.
[Why haven't we cured this yet?]
Other examples of viral diseases include dengue and chikungunya, which are spread by the bite of female Aedes mosquitoes.
Let's play doctor!
Diagnose the patient 1
A patient enters your clinic with complaints of fever, chills and frequent headaches. There is no sign of congestion or a sore throat, but she has a bad cough and trouble breathing properly.
Which organism do you order a blood test for?
There are harmless protozoa that live happily in the sea (until a blue whale gobbles them up for lunch), and there are deadly ones that can really harm us.
Helminths, or parasitic worms, are some of the most common and largest pathogens known to us (adults are usually visible to the naked eye). Many helminths can live free of hosts, but others can infect humans with the diseases listed below.
The term fungi brings to mind delightful things like mushrooms and truffles. Maybe it reminds you of less tasty, but important things like decomposition of organic matter. Perhaps the least delightful, are the fungi that can cause discomfort and skin lesions .
[What does dandruff have to do with fungus?]
Feb 18, 2022 · Most infectious diseases have only minor complications. But some infections — such as pneumonia, AIDS and meningitis — can become life-threatening. A few types of infections have been linked to a long-term increased risk of cancer: Human papillomavirus is linked to cervical cancer; Helicobacter pylori is linked to stomach cancer and peptic ...
What are the types of infectious diseases? Infectious diseases can be viral, bacterial, parasitic or fungal infections. There’s also a rare group of infectious diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).
In the anatomic classification, disease is categorized by the specific organ or tissue affected; hence, heart disease, liver disease, and lung disease. Medical specialties such as cardiology are restricted to diseases of a single organ, in this case the heart.
There are four main types of disease: infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, hereditary diseases (including both genetic and non-genetic hereditary diseases), and physiological diseases. Diseases can also be classified in other ways, such as communicable versus non-communicable diseases.
