The National Academies
What You Need To Know About Infectious Disease
How Infection Works
Types of Microbes
The microorganisms, or microbes, that can cause disease come in different forms. Viruses and bacteria are probably the most familiar because we hear so much about them. But fungi, protozoa, and helminths are also big players in the story of infectious disease. Learn more about each of these five main categories, as well as a recently discovered one: prions.
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Disease Watchlist
What do you know about infectious disease?
What fraction of all deaths worldwide are caused by infectious disease?
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Sorry, that’s incorrect.
About one quarter of all deaths worldwide are caused by infectious disease. More than two-thirds of the deaths in children under the age of five are caused by infectious disease.
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Correct!
About one quarter of all deaths worldwide are caused by infectious disease. More than two-thirds of the deaths in children under the age of five are caused by infectious disease.
-
Sorry, that’s incorrect.
About one quarter of all deaths worldwide are caused by infectious disease. More than two-thirds of the deaths in children under the age of five are caused by infectious disease.
Infectious Disease Defined
- Germ
In the context of microbiology, a microorganism that causes disease.
National Academies Press
Search the National Academies Press website by selecting one of these related terms.
Source Material
- Fungal Diseases: An Emerging Threat to Human, Animal, and Plant Health— Workshop Summary (2011)
- Infectious Disease Movement in a Borderless World—Workshop Summary (2010)
- Microbial Evolution and Co-Adaptation: A Tribute to the Life and Scientific Legacies of Joshua Lederberg (2009)
- The New Science of Metagenomics: Revealing the Secrets of Our Microbial Planet (2007)
- Ending the War Metaphor: The Changing Agenda for Unraveling the Host-Microbe Relationship—Workshop Summary (2006)
- Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response (2003)
