• Question: what are all the diffren ways you could catch an illness

    Asked by to Bethany, Hannah, Keith, Peter on 26 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Peter Elliott

      Peter Elliott answered on 26 Jun 2014:


      There are multiple ways diseases could infect you:

      Some things, such as many viral infection, can be airborne and be passed on through the air.

      Others can be waterborne such as typhoid and cholera.

      Some infections can be spread by eating contaminated food such as E. coli and campylobacter.

      Direct contact or injection of the disease may be required to cause infection, e.g. malaria.

    • Photo: Bethany Dearlove

      Bethany Dearlove answered on 27 Jun 2014:


      There are lots of ways diseases can spread. The main ways infections are spread is through direct contact – this can be person-to-person (e.g. touching, kissing or through a blood transfusion), animal-to-person (e.g. from your pets, or being bitten by a posquito) or mother-to-baby (through the placenta). Transmission by indirect contact is caused by microbes that have been left on a contaminated surface, such as a door handle, and then been touched and picked up by someone else – if then touch your face (particularly your mouth and nose) before washing your hands, then you’re quite likely to get the disease. Indirect contamination can also include eating infected food, such as chicken or pork that hasn’t been cooked properly to kill of the bad bugs, or fruit and veg that haven’t been washed.

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