Common Communicable Diseases Found in India

Common Communicable Diseases Found in India

The common communicable diseases found in India are as follows: 1. Malaria 2. Typhoid 3. Hepatitis 4. Jaundice 5. Diarrhoeal Diseases 6. Amoebiasis 7. Cholera 8. Influenza 9. Tuberculosis.

Worldwide, the lack of clean water for drinking, cooking and washing, and the lack of sanitary waste disposal are to blame for over 12 million deaths a year, say researchers. About 1.2 billion people are at risk because they lack access to safe fresh water. India too has its share of infectious epidemics; and though mortality owing to these is decreasing, it is a significant part of the disease burden our society carries.

The disease burden is high in India, for obvious reasons like poor sanitation, lack of access to fresh water, poor hygiene, etc., which are common in the most developing countries. Though exact dependable statistics are not available, a good percentage of cases go unreported. Secondly, ‘infection is not recognized till it becomes symptomatic.

Communicable Diseases in India:

The most common diseases are as follows: 

1. Malaria:

Malaria is a very common disease in developing countries. The word malaria is derived from the word ‘mal-aria meaning bad air. Ronald Ross first discovered the transmission of malaria by mosquitoes, while he was working in India (Secunderabad, AP) in 1897. Malaria is one of the most widespread diseases in the world.

Each year, there are 300 to 500 million clinical cases of malaria, 90 percent of them in Africa alone. Among all infectious diseases, malaria continues to be one of the biggest contributors to disease burden in terms of deaths and suffering. Malaria kills more than one million children a year in the developing world, accounting for about half of malaria deaths globally.

2. Typhoid:

Typhoid fever is an acute, systemic infection presenting as fever with abdominal symp­toms, caused by Salmonella typhi and paratyphi.

The organisms are acquired via ingestion of food or water, contaminated with human excreta from infected persons. Direct person-to-person transmission is rare. Typhoid is a global health problem. It is seen in children older than the age of one.

Geographical Distribution Worldwide, typhoid fever affects about six million people with more than 6, 00,000 deaths a year. Almost 80 percent of cases and deaths occur in Asia, and most others in Africa and Latin America. Among Asian countries, India prob­ably has a large number of these cases.

Carriers of Typhoid Fever Typhoid infection is mainly acquired from persons who are carriers of the disease. Carriers are the people who continue to excrete salmonella through their urine and feces a year after an attack of typhoid. A chronic carrier state develops in about 2 to 5 percent of the cases. The organisms in such cases make the gall bladder their habitat.

3. Hepatitis:

Hepatitis is the inflammation of liver. It can be caused by viruses (five different viruses— termed A, B, C, D and E cause viral Hepatitis), bacterial infections, or continuous expo­sure to alcohol, drugs, or toxic chemicals, such as those found in aerosol sprays and paint thinners, or as a result, of an auto-immune disorder.

Hepatitis results in either damage or reduction in the livers ability to perform life-preserving functions, including filtering harmful, infectious agents from blood, storing blood sugar and converting it into usable energy forms, and producing many proteins necessary for life.

Symptoms seen in Hepatitis differ according to the cause and the overall health of the infected individual. However, at times, the symptoms can be very mild. The com­monly seen clinical features are general weakness and fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, fever, abdominal pain and tenderness. The main feature is the presence of jaundice (yel­lowing of skin and eyes that occurs when the liver fails to break-down excess yellow- coloured bile pigments in the blood).

4. Jaundice:

Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a condition, which is characterized by yellowish dis­colouration of the skin and whites of eyes. It is a symptom or clinical sign, not a disease by itself. The yellow colouration is caused by an excess amount of bile pigment known as bilirubin in the body. Normally, bilirubin is formed by the breakdown of haemoglobin during the destruction of worn-out red blood cells.

5. Diarrhoeal Diseases:

The term gastroenteritis’ is most frequently used to describe acute diarrhoea. Diarrhoea is defined as the passage of loose, liquid or watery stools. These liquid stools are usually passed more than three times a day. The attack usually lasts for about 3 to 7 days, but may also last up to 10 to 14 days.

Diarrhoea is a major public health problem in developing countries. Diarrhoeal dis­eases cause a heavy economic burden on health services. About 15 percent of all pediatric beds in India are occupied by admissions due to gastroenteritis. In India, diarrhoeal dis­eases are a major public health problem among children under the age of 5 years. In health institutions, up to a third of total pediatric admissions are due to diarrhoeal diseases.

6. Amoebiasis:

Amoebiasis is an infection caused by a parasite ‘Entamoeba Histolytica. The intestinal disease varies from mild abdominal discomfort and diarrhoea to acute fulminating dys­entery. Extra intestinal amoebiasis includes involvement of the liver (liver abseess), lungs, brain, spleen, skin, etc.

7. Cholera:

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by V. Cholera (classical or El T). It is now commonly due to the El T or biotype. The majority of infections are mild or symptomatic. Epidemics of cholera are characteristically abrupt and often create an acute public health problem. They have a high potential to spread fast and cause deaths. The epidemic reaches a peak and subsides gradually as the ‘force of infection declines. Often, when time control measures are instituted, the epidemic has already reached its peak and is waning.

8. Influenza:

Influenza is an acute respiratory tract infection caused by influenza virus of which there are three types—A, B and C. All known pandemics were caused by influenza A strains, due to various factors. Influenza is found all over the world.

The unique features of influenza epidemics are the suddenness with which they arise, and the speed and ease with which they spread. The short incubation period, a large number of subclinical cases, a high proportion of susceptible population, short duration of immunity, and an absence of cross-immunity, all contribute to its rapid spread. The fate of the virus during inter-epidemic periods is also known. Possible expla­nations include transmission of virus to extra-human reservoirs (pigs, horses, birds. etc.,) latent infection or continuous transfer from one human to another. This explains the occurrence of sporadic cases.

9. Tuberculosis:

Tuberculosis remains a worldwide public health problem, particularly in the Third World countries. Tuberculosis is India’s biggest public health problem. An estimated that 5, 00,000 deaths annually are reported due to this disease, while a similar number of persons get cured.

The population in the Third World countries like India is exposed to tuberculo­sis. The disease, however, does not develop in everyone who is exposed. Poor nutrition, overcrowding, low socio-economic status, are more likely to develop the disease.