Contagious Diseases
Definition
These are diseases that can be transmitted from one person to another through direct or indirect contact. Examples include the flu, colds, and COVID-19.
Analogy
Think of contagious diseases like a viral video on social media. One person shares it, then their friends see it and share it too, and before you know it, everyone's seen the video (or in this case, caught the disease).
Related terms
Infectious Disease: A type of illness caused by a pathogen such as bacteria, virus or parasite which can spread between individuals.
Epidemic: An outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.
Pandemic: An epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people.
"Contagious Diseases" appears in:
Are you a college student?
Study guides for the entire semester
200k practice questions
Glossary of 50k key terms - memorize important vocab
Resources
© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.
AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.