Basic Concepts about Contagious Diseases

Chien-Liang Liu, MD; Tzong-Luen Wang, MD, PhD; Kuo-Chih Chen, MD, PhD; Chee-Fah Chong, MD

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Abstract --Contagious disease becomes an important part in human health now and in the future after visualization of microorganisms and identification of their pathophysiology centuries ago. The work of Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, and others laid the foundations for the germ theory of disease, which in turn made advances in the control and prevention of many infectious diseases. Human may be vulnerable to new diseases or re-emerging pathogens. Human has also been developing new generations of antibiotics, but also evoked emerging organism. This article will discuss the causes of organism emergence such as effects of human behavior, the environment, or the microorganisms themselves. It is also emphasized that detection and response to contagious disease are very important for human health.