Introduction
The World Health Organization has classified diseases in terms of how they are caused. This has resulted into the classification of diseases as being infectious or noninfectious. In undertaking the correct diagnosis, it is essential for the health workers to determine if a disease is infectious or noninfectious. In many cases, infectious diseases are referred to as being communicable between the infectious pathogens and the host. On the other contrary, noninfectious diseases are non-communicable. This paper explores the comparison and contrast in the mechanisms of acquisition between infectious and noninfectious diseases. Moreover, the paper will examine the implications of this to public health practice.
Compare and Contrast
Infectious diseases are said to be caused by viruses, fungi, parasites and bacteria (Shetty, Tang & Andrews, 2009). The infections caused by fungi here include ringworm and athlete’s foot. Parasites like mosquitoes are responsible for causing malaria. Viruses are said to cause various diseases, common among them is AIDS. Bacteria cause diseases like tuberculosis. Thus, the key causes of infectious diseases can be summarized as being direct contact, insect bites, food contamination, as well as indirect contact.
On the other hand, noninfectious diseases are as a result of the risks to one’s lifestyle, background or the environment. All these factors combine to increase the risk of getting infectious diseases. For instance, if one does not exercise regularly, then they are likely to suffer from back pains. Moreover, taking of an unbalanced diet can result into malnutrition. Errors in the body’s genetic make-up can also result into noninfectious diseases. A typical case here is when there is a change in the number of chromosomes; the result is the Down syndrome (Battle, 2009). Consequently, noninfectious diseases are mainly said to be environmental and inherited diseases.
Infectious diseases can be easily transmitted between persons whenever there is contact; noninfectious diseases cannot be transmitted in case of any contact. For instance, flu can be transmitted to another person whereas a disease resulting from gene mutations cannot be transmitted. Furthermore, infectious diseases show their signs within a short time once one has been infected. This can be said of malaria when one has been bitten by mosquitoes. On the other hand, noninfectious diseases are known to progress slowly and take a considerably long time. Cases here include diseases like diabetes and asthma (Shetty, Tang & Andrews, 2009).
Implications to public health practice
Over years, there has been an improvement in the ways of diagnosis of both infectious and noninfectious diseases. This has been vital in reducing these diseases. Moreover, by clearly understanding the acquisition mechanism of both infectious and noninfectious diseases, it has had significant implications on public health practice. First, this is essential in ensuring that medical practitioners have upto date knowledge on these diseases. Second, understanding the etiology of diseases is critical in improving patient care. In order to improve and increase interpersonal and communication skills in the medical field, understanding the etiology of diseases is necessary. Medical practitioners can only offer quality services to patients through understanding the causes of various infections. Thus, this injects professionalism in service provision, in public health practice.
Conclusion
The public health sector is so essential in any given country. It plays a vital role of disease diagnosis thus ensuring all diseases are cured for the health well-being of the people. As such, knowledge on the etiology of both infectious and noninfectious diseases is critical. Moreover, this information is helpful in ensuring that there is professionalism in the way the public health sector is run in a given country.
References
Battle, C. U., (2009). Essentials of Public Health Biology: A Guide for the Study of Pathophysiology. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Shetty, N., Tang, J. W. & Andrews, J., (2009). Infectious Disease: Pathogenesis, Prevention and Case Studies. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.