Session 4.6. Diseases that cause epidemics

By the end of this session, you will be able to: 

• Discuss the different groups of diseases that cause epidemics. 
• Explain the main volunteer actions for each group of diseases.

Part 4.6.1. What are the disease groups?

Many kinds of disease cause epidemics. It is useful to put them in groups. This helps us to understand the nature of different diseases and manage epidemics better.

Diseases can be grouped in several ways. For example, we can group them according to which germs cause them, how they are transmitted, or what symptoms they cause.

In this training package, we group diseases in a way that will help you understand how to prevent or manage the epidemics they cause. On this basis, we have formed seven disease groups. These are: 

1. Faecal-oral infections. 
2. Diseases preventable by vaccination. 
3. Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. 
4. Acute respiratory infections. 
5. Haemorrhagic (bleeding) fevers.
6. Zoonotic diseases (diseases spread by animals). 
7. Other diseases.

Because it is usually easier to remember drawings than names, we will use “icons” (graphic symbols) for each disease group. We will talk a little bit about each group and the diseases in it, how the diseases are transmitted, what symptoms they cause, and how to prevent and manage the epidemics for which they are responsible.

Some of the above diseases are also foodborne and waterborne diseases, or also transmitted mainly in health care settings (nosocomial infections), or during sexual activity, etc.

“Zoonotic diseases” are transmitted by animals or insects. Animals or insects that transmit diseases to people are called vectors. Vectors include mosquitoes, sand flies, triatomine bugs, blackflies, ticks, tsetse flies, mites, snails, fleas, chickens, monkeys, camels and fruit bats. The animals or insects in question are not necessarily sick; some are healthy when they transmit severe human diseases.

Many diseases fall into more than one group. For example, yellow fever has been placed in the group “Diseases preventable by vaccination” because the main prevention and control measure is vaccination; but it is also transmitted by a vector (mosquitoes) and could have been grouped under “Diseases spread by mosquitoes” or “Zoonotic diseases”.

You do not need to remember by heart all of the information about these groups. We will talk about them again later on, and you will be given a toolkit with this training manual. The toolkit will help you to remember the diseases and also to prevent and manage the epidemics they cause.

Note: The content of the training manual on this website and in the PDF document is exactly the same. The website has split this session 4.6. into further sub-groups for practical purposes.